With the launch of Google Instant last week, Google took its “suggested search” feature to a whole new level with search results flickering and populating as the user types. As each letter is entered into the search query box, the results shift and change until the user lands on just the right information; either through completing the original thought or becoming interested in something different that’s flashing across the screen or being suggested by the query box suggestions.

This new interactive search interface has prompted a variety of questions about keyword strategies. Do these “interruptions” in lengthier queries mean that sites should optimize for “shorter tail” words”? Will Google Instant be such a “distraction” that it will change or sidetrack a user’s original intent? Should keyword researchers change their methodologies and approaches to keyword selection in response to Google Instant? Some folks speculating about the “impact” of Instant have gone so far as to say that sites may now want to optimize for single letters in order to capture attention and interest at the moment that users begin typing.

Focusing too heavily on the “short tail” and dramatically altering keyword targeting strategies is likely ill advised, however. First, let’s address the most outlandish musings. It’s important to realize that the results displayed in Google Instant are being displayed for the predicted query, not for the limited string of letters the user is typing. That means that if you start a search in Google with the letter “a” the results that populate are not pages targeting “a” but rather those targeting “aol” as that’s the top keyword that Google is “predicting” intent for, as shown here:

Only if you hit “enter” after typing “a” will you see the results for that single letter query. Second, Google Instant does not eliminate the basic principles that apply to quality in keyword selection. Ranking for a non-qualified, high-volume keyword (or letter in this case) could generate traffic, but traffic doesn’t equal conversions. Ultimately, just because the search landscape has changed in Google, doesn’t mean we have to jump to nonsense tactics to “improve” SEO.

That said, there is something to the theories and speculation that Google Instant could change users’ intentions or the trajectory of their search behaviors. Ideally, Instant should expand the depth of a user’s search quality and help users refine their searches and utilize more multi-dimensional, multi-step queries to gain greater details on their target. However, there are a few things that could go “wrong”. One, some people, could get distracted and totally veer off course. This could occur with some people, but it’s not much different than those who did so just as a result of Google “search suggest” features, which have been around for a while. More likely, though, are those who would have used a truly “long tail” search but now “settle” for something in the “mid-tail” because the instant-populating results draw their attention before they are able to complete their “longer” thought. This is where it may make sense to revisit keyword targeting (and matching to specific and best-fitting landing pages) on your site. If you rank for keywords in this mid-range you will, in Google Instant’s updating results, be able to capture attention, and possibly clicks, sooner. Any Google-Instant-inspired changes in behavior, however, aren’t going to be evident right away. It will take some time to spot trends and sort out the keyword targeting impact, based on analysis of changes in actual traffic patterns and keyword usage by those visitors. This is something to watch for over the coming weeks, and adjust strategies accordingly.

Much has been written throughout the Search industry over the past few days, months, and years, relative to the “impending” Search Alliance between Bing and Yahoo and the end of Yahoo Search as we’ve known it. And now the time has finally arrived, Yahoo organic search is 100% powered by Bing (in the United States and Canada, for now). Long gone are Paid Inclusion (since the end of 2009), Search Monkey, and the “Big 3″ of search. All organic results in Bing and Yahoo are powered by the same Microsoft algorithm/index. What does it mean? Here’s a run down of other changes so far….

• Any positions your site had in Yahoo that you did not have in Bing are now gone – all rankings are dependent on your site’s ability to rank in Bing now, regardless of past performance in Yahoo.
• Yahoo Site Explorer and the Yahoo Directory are still intact.
• The average user of Yahoo and Bing remain separate demographics.
• The user interface and overall “look and feel” of Yahoo and Bing have remained separate and unique and the two engines are still competing on display advertising.
• Universal/Blended search results are displaying differently within the two engines – which means that a search in Bing may reveal image results, for example, interspersed within the Organic listings that aren’t shown for the same keyword query results in Yahoo.
• Optimizing for Bing is, in many ways, similar as for Google, with the exception that Bing’s index, overall remains much smaller. Your best bets continue to be to produce quality, thematic, and keyword-rich content – keyword-rich urls are also helpful.
• Paid search changes are continuing to transition and roll out separately.

What else will follow? Additions of new partners into the Search Alliance? Removal of Yahoo Site Explorer? The Yahoo Directory? Who Knows? Stay tuned for changes to the above … the Search Alliance continues to be an evolving entity in and of itself.

As the occurrence of Universal & Blended Search results become more frequent for a larger variety of queries, it’s imperative that  business owners and marketing managers craft content creation strategies above and beyond traditional website content. For those sites whose content / industry lends itself to frequent breaking news, updates, and time-sensitive occurrences, presence within real-time search could be particularly beneficial. Following are four tips for improving your real-time search optimization strategy:

1. Blogging. Publish frequent, keyword-rich blog posts. Build a readership. Syndicate your blog via feeds.
2. Use Twitter. Tweet regularly, utilizing keywords that people are looking for. Keep an eye on building your follower base with highly relevant folks on Twitter, so that your tweets garner more authority. Think of your followers almost as you would inbound linkers – demonstrate the quality of your content to the search engines via the quality and relevance of your followers.
3. Press Releases. Distribute well-optimized online press releases. Use keywords, links, and any available multimedia collateral (images, video embeds, etc.), to make the release as robust and content-rich as possible.
4. Local Listings. Don’t forget about local search. Visit the Google Local Business Center to learn more about adding real-time updates to your Google Maps Place Page(s) www.google.com/lbc.

Real-time content is exploding across the Internet, but given its time-sensitivity, its reach is at once both impactful and fleeting. The benefits of creating and ranking for relevant real-time content are clear in that they present your company to people at the very moment of need and urgency. At the same time, maintaining a real-time research optimization strategy takes consistent maintenance and care; first, because it can be difficult to create content on a regular basis and second, because those difficulties are compounded by the challenge of creating content of value to readers. Those companies that do this well have a definite leg-up on their competition relative to the amount of real estate they will be able to garner in the SERPs and the potential for quality leads and business they will be able to generate though that presence.