Last week Google introduced Google Instant, a form of predictive search. The basic premise of Google Instant is to help users by showing relevant results as a query is typed. Think of it as a ‘search before you type’ kind of analogy. There have been many, many blog posts subsequently written on whether Google Instant is bad or good, or somewhere in between. I won’t get into the philosophical debate as quite frankly, it’s really too early to tell the implications for users, businesses and those in the SEO community. This blog post is not about Google Instant; it is however about how Google-sponsored features like Google Instant and Google Product Search are crowding out traditional organic search results.

Placing on Google’s first SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is the most coveted position in the SEO community. Competition to get on the first SERP has always been tough, but with all the space being carved off by Google, it’s getting even tougher to make what’s left of page one.

Take the example of my recent search query below, it’s obvious that a) I don’t like ironing and b) nearly 2/3 of the space normally allotted for organic search results are being reserved by Google itself. Google Instant and Google Product Search take up a lot of space! There are a grand total of 5 visible organic listings shown. Now technically any business has the ability to upload a product data feed for free via the Merchant Center, but no matter how you slice it, Google is reserving more page one real estate, and thereby having an impact on the number of pure organic results shown.