Google recently announced that it will now use the encryption protocol called SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) to encrypt all the searches that people do using the Google Search Engine if they are signed-in using their Google Account login.

This means that these logged-in Google users will be redirected to https://www.google.com (note the extra" s') from http://www.google.com (non SSL) once they are signed-in with their Google account. This switch to SSL encrypts your search query which means that the sites the user visits after clicking on the results from Google will no longer contain the "Referrer data" (data which tells the destination site how it was found, whether from a search term entered ... Read more...

Until recently, the sitelinks that you have most commonly seen have probably looked something like this: The purpose of sitelinks is to help searchers navigate a specific page they are in need of as quickly as possible. However, earlier this week, Google announced its improved and expanded version of sitelinks. The newer version is arranged as a column of links and appears more prominently on the search engine results page. The new sitelinks is certainly helping brands dominate the search results page. According to Google, displaying more sitelinks is designed to help users quickly navigate to the most relevant section of a site. But, let's try and understand how the changes will affect websites, and how they can adapt ... Read more...

If you're using Google Instant Search in one of the countries where it has been rolled out, you may have noticed that a blue arrow now appears next to the first result presented (Whether it's an advertisement or a natural result). This is the new interface for keyboard navigation, which allows you to move up and down within the results using your keyboard, and hit Enter/ Return to go to the chosen result.

For the SEO community this poses a new challenge, because to the average Google Instant user, the blue triangle may appear to be a suggestion for the most relevant result, even if it is a paid listing. Organic results ... Read more...

Google rolled out the "Instant" update last week. Needless to say, it has generated lot of interest in the search marketing community, and has both marketers and practitioners coming forth with their analysis and assessment on the impact it will have. The team at Position² has been following developments and is pleased to present views as well as a checklist of a few action items. These are based on interactions with experts at Google, and internal tests. Watch out for more updates in the days to come - Position² Team

For those who came in late...

Google Instant was released by the search engine giant to enable "Faster Searches, Smarter Predictions and Instant Results", ... Read more...