“Google posts”
Search Engine Optimization is a constantly shifting, highly competitive field. Its success is contingent on the search methods of major search engines—particularly Google—and so it is also a very unstable field.
Google has recently been experimenting with a new feature called Google posts. They are currently only experimenting with it in an invite-only setting, so it is not open to the general public. Google posts functions as a semi-social platform, in which certain prominent organizations can publish content directly on the Google Search results page. This differs from advertising because would have the appearance of a traditional social media post. If a user searched a certain keyword that is either the name of an organization or highly relevant to it, the organization would have a space to post updated content. It is similar to the recent sidebar addition, that provides contact information for organizations. However, that information is found by Google, and the new posts would feature information provided directly from the organizations. An example is pictured below, with a search for fashion brand Tory Burch and a Google post among the results:
The implication for SEO is that these new Google posts will likely steal many “clicks” and much attention from regular paid advertising and organic results; SEO firms will face a challenge–to make results seem prominent adjacent to these intentionally “official” posts. There is also a chance that search methods may change–this new feature could affect the way PageRank is calculated, with Google posts given weight as “super authorities”. Although Google has not released any metrics from the experimentation, it will be interesting to see how much the new feature will affect SEO and how quickly they will be able to adapt.