Over the past year, there has been a lot of exposure given to Twitter and Facebook integrations that are now a part of Bing, Yahoo and Google. Are there different uses for these types of queries than traditional search as we have come accustomed to it today (i.e., searching for a digital camera)? If so, what do marketers need to understand in order to leverage this opportunity? Are these 2 worlds separated or can they be used as a formidable 1-2 punch for marketers?

These were the main questions that I was hoping to get answered when attending the “Real Time & Social Search Landscape” session held early Monday morning at SMX East in new York.

Danny Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief for Search Engine Land, moderated the panel which consisted of industry leaders in the space including: Jeremy Hylton - Lead Engineer - Google Real Time, Othman Laraki – Director of Search, Twitter, Merrie Morris – Microsoft Research and Brian Theodore – Director of Search, Social/Realtime Yahoo!.

I thought Othman did a great job of simplifying the fundamental difference between how marketers will be successful with Real Time Search vs. Traditional Search. To put it in his terms, “it is the difference between hacking search algorithms (traditional search) and hacking human interests (RT Search).”

When speaking on this matter, Othman referenced Old Spice’s Viral Campaign, and asked the audience whether they thought that type of response would have been possible using the means that generally drives results with traditional search. The audience’s response was a resounding no. This proved Othman’s point that marketers need to dive deeper in to the human psyche and understand the emotional tipping points that will drive social engagement in order to be successful in the Real Time marketplace.

The other aspect of the panel that really stood out to me was Meredith’s take on the future of Real Time Search and how it will integrate with traditional search to enable users to have the highest level of confidence when making decisions.

Meredith introduced a product on the road map for Bing called Bing & Ping. She used a great example of herself travelling from Seattle to NYC and wondering which Vegetarian Restaurant she should try out in NYC. To show the two ways a user could begin trying to decide on a place, she first started on Facebook, eliciting suggestions by asking what Vegetarian restaurants she should try.

Once Meredith’s friends began sending her recommendations, Bing then posted the menu’s below her friend’s suggestions on Facebook, giving an incredible example of how the two worlds can co-exist to give user’s the most reliable and efficient way to make decisions. Meredith then reversed courses and started to research what restaurants she should go to on Bing first before consulting her social network.

Using Bing & Ping, she was able to post the local directories that were given to her from Bing on her Facebook page and then ask her friends which one out of the following they would recommend. In addition to that ability, B&P was also able to tell her which friends she should think about inviting (due to them being in NYC at the time and having the same tastes in food) as well as pull up past suggestions from friend’s that have given similar advice or have posted the same question previously.

In conclusion, we have just begun to scratch the surface in terms of the power these two entities can combine to create in assisting users make confident decisions in an efficient manner, and it is great to see the leaders of this space thinking dynamically about how to incorporate real time and traditional search with the best user experience as the inspiration and driving force behind innovation.

Thanks,

Craig

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