At the beginning of December, personalized search was rolled out to all Google users, not just those signed in to their Google accounts. Now Web history is being gleaned through an anonymous cookie, and search activity of non-signed in users will be stored for 180 days, thereby having an effect on search results. Bruce Clay, Susan Esparza and Virginia Nussey consider how personalized search results affect the job of an SEO and shape users’ expectations of search results. Bruce gives his recommendations for search engine optimization in a world of personalization and intent-based targeting.


David Harry, blogger and founder of the community forum and discussion hub, SEO Dojo, has performed three rounds of research to gather data on result ranking flux due to personalization. Dave shares his analysis of the latest round of testing, and among his observations he notes the difference of results for informational and transactional searches. He also explains how SEOs might go about optimization in light of personalization. Finally, Dave puts the personalized search piece of the puzzle into a broader point of view, including the way a more powerful infrastructure like Caffeine allows broad customization of search results to occur.

Then Susan, Virginia and Michael Terry look at another recent Google implementation — real-time search results. The question of spam and low-quality information is raised, as is the shift in information gathering and consumption. Some seasoned search marketers expect real-time search results to disappear from Google in the coming months, while others see real-time search as a valuable tool for mining data online.

Interest-based ads made a splash last month when Google announced beta testing in AdSense and on YouTube. Christopher, Bruce and Virginia start off the show by looking at how the development affects the marketing industry. Bruce points out that privacy concerns would likely be moot if interest-based ads followed an opt-in policy rather than the opt-out policy currently in place. However, the likelihood that users would opt-in is low considering the average user doesn’t know interest-based ads exist.

David Szetela is the host of PPC Rockstars and CEO of the PPC-only agency Clix Marketing. He talks to Virginia about his thoughts on interest-based search advertising. A veteran on the conference circuit, he also explains what he does during PPC site clinics and gives listeners a preview of his presentation on black hat PPC tactics at SES New York.

David Szetela

Then Fernando Chavez, a Bruce Clay, Inc. SEO analyst since 2005, makes his debut appearance on the show. Susan, Fernando and Virginia talk about what interest-based search would look like in organic listings. Fernando explains that he wouldn’t do anything differently to cater to personalized search. Susan argues that knowing what interest categories exist could be beneficial to an SEO looking to focus their efforts.