To make a long story short – everyone’s Google results for a specific term, say the TV show “Lost” will be different when using real-time search. Everyone’s. This is because if you are selecting Latest Results, you’re jumping into the world of real-time which will include updates from Facebook and Twitter that are using those keywords. Check out this sample query for AT&T.

Notice anything? If you guessed that ‘sentiment is now reflected in Google results’ – you win. Who doesn’t win in this situation? AT&T. Regardless of what AT&T does with any of their PPC buys or SEO their search results page now is going to be trumped by sentiment in large part gathered from Social Media networks. And right now, sentiment towards AT&T is at almost an all-time low. If I were someone who was making a purchasing decision regarding a new cell phone, checking Google’s real-time search would certainly have an influence in that choice. And that’s big.

So where is this all going? Google is obviously looking to capitalize on the growth of social search. Will this make traditional search engine optimization less important in the world of real-time? As an advertiser, will I run into the possibility that a PPC Google Ad for my product will show up next to a Tweet that’s tearing it apart?

Check out this short video direct from Google.

This is one big example of why businesses NEED to be aware of what’s being said about them and engage with their customers on social networks. With Google now in the social search game (and with 70% of the search volume being done on Google), sentiment in real-time has the potential to make or break a brand.

Have you used real-time search yet? Will you? More importantly, what do you think this means for traditional SEO? Leave us a comment and let’s chat.

With all that being said, I wanted to share some notes that I took from the first keynote presentation of the conference with Jim Lecinski. He provided us with a great baseline for where both search and social are going, and how brands will need to adapt to compete whether they’re a large multi-national, or a smaller more localized business.

On Search:

Multiple Keyword searches are growing, while single keyword searches are declining. This means that the Long Tail is getting LONGER as more people are searching for more specific terms. It is not as important to be the top result for ‘Dog Grooming’ but rather ‘Dog Grooming’ with a location or a service modifier.

YouTube has surpassed Yahoo! as the number 2 search engine behind Google. It is also number 2 in search for B2B related to products and services (and you thought it was  just for recording dancing babies).

Execution and Best Practices:

There are 4 main pillars of success for online marketing
1 – Relevance is king. Show display ads that are relevant to the page the user is on. If they are searching for the answer to a question, a SOLUTION based ad on a site will be much more effective than a branded ad. For example – an ad for the Verizon Chocolate isn’t relevant to a user looking for college admissions info, even though they are they fit the target age demo. Instead the tutorial page should have ads for admissions consultants or web resources that will further engage the user.

2 – Be Fast. It’s much more important to be FIRST than to be FAST. Example: When Google launched iGoogle widgets, Betty Crocker was first to put a recipe of the day widget up. It was plain, not engaging, and graphically not interesting. 6 months later, a competitor put up a much flashier widget with a better interface. The result? To date, there are almost 10x the amount of users for the Betty Crocker ad than the competitor.

Carl Lewis was fast. But now there are many runners that have broken the :10 in the 100m. Don’t get me wrong, that’s really fast.  But to win….you need to be Usain Bolt fast.

3. Use Data to React, Plan and Create Strategy. This involves using A/B testing for headlines,landing pages, and ads to test conversion rates and discover if the user is actually the same demo that the client believes they are marketing to.

4. Create Experiences and Opportunities. Users are wary of messages being pushed out. Leverage the power and interest of users to spread messages, engage with the brand, and interact. One way to get there is transparency. Share behind the scenes data, even if it means less secrecy. For example, Best Buy has been testing out TV spots and scripts via YouTube before they decide which ones to run on the air and have a really robust video presence. Users react via views and comments which serves as a multi-variant testing ground. Most popular ideas are used in the actual TV spots and ads based on the feedback users give.

Remember, marketers and agencies were for the past 40 years in the interruption and distraction business. Having a 30 ft roll of toilet paper was a distraction. Now were are in the business of building experiences and communities, INSTEAD of interruptions.

External Links and Resources:

The YouTube Fast Forward Channel
Google Insights for search data and trends.

And that keynote was just the tip of the iceberg. I’m hoping to share more info on the blog soon, but hopefully this will give you all a little insight and shift your thinking about marketing in the digital space.

It seems like every site on the web now has some form of “Web 2.0″ or social features integrated with them. Whether that’s an official Twitter account, company blog, a Ning group or Facebook fan page, social media has created a new channel for businesses to use for customer service, marketing, and community building.

This past week Google launched a new product as part of their Google Toolbar that every website owner should be aware of.  Google SideWiki is a huge way to annotate the web. Think of it as seeing comments, additional links, and Wikipedia style annotations alongside every webpage you visit. According to Google’s Video, you can link up additional text on the page to point to your annotation, or leave a comment on the page as a whole. Don’t want to leave your mark? You can still view everyone else’s comments and rate whether they’re useful or not, or share a comment via Twitter or Facebook.

While you need Google Toolbar to use and view Sidewiki (these annotations are not visible unless you’re running the toolbar) the game changer is this:  People can leave comments about your site and your company essentially ON your site, whether you want them to or not. Now, comments can be flagged for abuse, but at the end of the day technologies like this will make brands more transparent and really empower customers to speak their minds. So, what will they say about YOUR brand? Take a look at some screen grabs from Apple, Wal-Mart, and RedState.com

We’ve been having some great discussions with businesses about the Social Media scene and some of their hesitation to interacte in that space. And thankfully many have embraced the technology instead of trying to fight it. Because as services like Sidewiki grow in popularity, and as more people communicate with business through social media channels, it will be impossible to ignore.

So, where do you start? We’d suggest that you first browse around and experience the tool for yourself. If you’re interested, download Google Toolbar with Sidewiki and you’ll be good to go. Next, claim your Sidewiki space on your own website.

After you’ve downloaded the Google Toolbar, sign in with your Google Account (or create one). Then follow these steps:

1. Add and verify your site in Google Webmaster Tools. This process links your site to your Google Account. Learn more about adding and verifying your site
2. Once a site is linked to your Google Account, visit your page and click the Sidewiki button to create an entry.
3. Select the ‘Write as the page owner’ checkbox in the entry form.
4. Click Publish.

We hope this gives you a little insight into a tool that could mean some big changes in the way brands interact on the web. Have you used Sidewiki yet? What are your impressions of it, and how do YOU think this will change customer relationships? Leave us a comment (or contribute to our Sidewiki).