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Recent speculation about  Google Search Personalizationhas led to suggestions that Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) could soon become extinct. However I am asking myself could this really the case?  I’m not sure that anyone can say with any certainty just how these changes impact will on the SEO industry. What we can do is look at how the industry believes it will effect things based on the facts that are already known.

Lets start by looking into how Google Search Personalisation works?

Another raised issue regards the Google Account sign up process, and how almost by steath it includes new accounts to the personalisation and search history products. Danny Sullivans  Searchengineland article entitled Google Ramps Up Personalized Search  explains how when you set up a google account now you are automatically enrolled for three additional products:

• Search History
• Personalized Search
• Personalized Homepage

Apparently you can override Search History but you will need to be pretty eagle eyed because it is not obvious.

You can thus deduce that the majority of sign ups will include this option, I agree with Danny Sullivan when I say that this should be highlighted more strongly?

So if the majority of web searchers are signing up for it, what Impact is Google Personalisation going to have on SEO practices?

Well I personally think there are going to be some disadvantages and advantages.

Disadvantages

• Firstly Consistency , how can search results be measured constantly if every one is getting a different result for the same search.
• It may be difficult to get new brands or websites to perform well because the majority of web users will have visited the main sites enough for them to be unmovable. i.e. likes of Amazon. So therefore could this be another move towards weighting known brands more heavily.
• Clients who opt in to personalised accounts have a false impression of how their sites are performing
• PPC is likely to become more competitive and therefore expensive due to companies not achieving organic  the success they require.
• Offline marketing  and e-mail marketing will grow in importance to drive traffic to sites to get people visiting sites.
• It could kill off  sites with low readership or visitors.
• People will have to search deeper than normal to get alternatives from the sites they normally look at which may reduce choice and stagnate things.

Advantages

• It has been in place for a while already.
• Google still ranks things in the same way in terms of the algorithm. It is personal delivery that has changed.
• There are other search engines who are not employing this where you can build your brand and identity so you will be searched for through google.
• There is evidence that most searches are different anyway depending what location you are in, what IP subnet, different PC’s in different locations.
• If the site contains good content you will be found and then the personalisation will help you to get repeat clicks.
• Personalisation can be disabled.
• There is no current evidence that it is making such a difference anyway.

As I said earlier, I don’t know of anyone who can say for sure how this is going to affect the way we do SEO. What I can predict is change is the nature of the industry. It is always going to be fairly reactive in a way because we are constanly trying to understand what Google and its user base want from a website. I for one dont’t think this is a bad thing. One it keeps us as SEO’s on our toes and secondly it means that we are going to have to move away from the traditional technical and manipulative strategies of the past and concentrate on creating sites that have quality content and meet the demand of searchers. If this becomes the case maybe this could go a long way to really helping to make better user experience and getting rid of a lot of spammy sites whos sole perpose are to generate revenue for little effort.

So in summery I think that this is a tool in which we can all benefit from, giving searchers what they want and letting us as SEO’s evolve gain greater undstanding in how to deliver it to them. So in answer to my original question can SEO and Google Personalization co exist my findings so far are a comprehensive yes.