What will happen with Google in 2004? I wrote to some of the top search engine optimizers to get their predictions for the search engine industry in 2004. Today’s blog focuses solely on their Google predictions.
In case you’d like to read ALL the predictions, check the forums. Be sure to put your own predictions down, just for the record.
PR With Google News. Greg Jarboe, of SEO-PR, sees the Google News tab as an excellent way for companies to generate traffic.
“Getting visibility in Google News will become a PR priority in 2004. Google News attracted 3.4 million unique users in July 2003, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. This ranked Google News in the top 20 current events and global news sites. Google News had 2.24 million unique visitors in August, according to comScore’s Media Metrix, making it the 17th most popular general news site.
“In 2004, both Nielsen//NetRatings and comScore Media Metrix will report that Google News has climbed the charts to become one of the top 10 brands or channels in its category. Not bad for a little “beta” project that was launched in September 2002.”
More Big Updates. Bruce Clay, of BruceClay.com, had some Google predictions that I thought were worth sharing, especially in light of his accurate prediction of the 12/20 algorithm shift.
Here’s what Bruce predicted about Google:
Google 1: I think that the other shoe has not fallen and that while the initial Google cleaning has somewhat stabilized in the 20% of the high traffic sites adjusted, I think that the remaining adjustment could be traumatic.
Google 2: There will be an IPO, followed by acquisitions, mostly for emerging technology firms in linguistics, foreign markets, and geo-targeting. This will distract and delay technology implementations in some areas but they will retain market share.
Google 3: Froogle will become more integrated into the search results where the search phrase is a specific brand name, but even this will become geo-targeted.
Google 4: There will be a big push to get Google onto cell phones and PDA’s.
Google 5: Look for increased partnership issues: HotBot, Ask.com, and Time-Warner properties.
Google’s IPO Fizzles. This Google prediction, from Mike Banks Valentine, was too fun to leave out. This is the long shot prediction and it makes me think Mike may have a future in fiction…
“Google’s IPO fizzles after the new non-relevant search results cause searchers to stop using them entirely. When they announce they’ve gone back to the pre-Florida algorithm, they gain back their die-hard fans. But it seems like too little, too late for most of the remaining public.
“Then suddenly, open source search engine “Nutch” launches a massive campaign to become the Google replacement. Nutch.com is an overnight success and becomes the new worldwide favorite. Yahoo makes a buyout offer for Nutch and MSN announces they’ll develop their own . . . oops, not open source – it’ll incorporate .Net, be called .Netch and will be tied to Longhorn.
“MSN buys Google data centers and hardware at firesale prices after hiring the star staff right before a Google Bankruptcy is announced.”
http://www.SearchEngineOptimism.com
Optimizing For Google Print. Dan Thies had his own “fiction” prediction:
“Google Print’s successful launch will lead to a wave of keyword-stuffing in books, and the most common name for Chapter One of romance novels will be ‘breast, breasts | Chapter One Breasts'”
http://www.seoresearchlabs.com
Google Kills The Yellow Pages. Me? I see Google killing the Yellow Pages once their localized search is in full effect. When will this happen? Ask me next year… 🙂
What do you predict from Google for the year 2004? Don’t be shy. Tell the world.
Garrett French is the editor of murdok’s eBusiness channel. You can talk to him directly at WebProWorld, the eBusiness Community Forum.
