Do you use Google Chrome? Most people don’t (we’re talking less than 10%). Why should they? Yet. Few web users even look further than their pre-installed browser as their Internet interface. It’s historically been the Technorati, the aficionados, the web-heads who’ve felt the need to get promiscuous with their browsers, to seek the thrill of Firefox, the opulence of Opera or the cutting edge offer by Google Chrome.

Times are changing though and Microsoft’s ‘critical mass’ dominance of the browser market is under threat. What’s happened until now is that PC manufacturers have paid for the privilege of installing the ever so popular Internet Explorer onto their machines and thereby perpetuate its popularity – it’s Microsoft’s massively lucrative wheel of fortune. Firefox over recent years and now Google in particular, with their Chrome browser look set to challenge Microsoft’s dominance. A new browser era is dawning.

In a radical departure from traditional business practice, Google instead of charging computer manufacturers to bundle the browser are actually paying them to include it. In doing so they are banking on achieving a foothold, a user base – the additional revenue generated through their search facilities more than able to compensate for the initial outlay. Perhaps more radically still Chrome threatens more than simply Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, it challenges the Windows operating system itself and Microsoft’s vice-like grip on the whole computer industry as people seek to take their processing remotely. Chrome might well be the first wave of cloud computing interfaces and in the perfect position to take Microsoft’s market from under their noses. No wonder the battle lines have been drawn; not just for browsers, but operating systems and office productivity – I.T’s sacred cash cows.

What are the implications for your SEO and your online marketing other than better products, more opportunity and better prices? Here are a couple of possible impacts on SEO:

• Google retains data. Focus on your brand for instant partial matching and address bar (Omnibox) search completion.
• The more your brand is searched the more it will show up when people search for broader related brands.
• Awareness advertising, website interactivity, and consumer generated content all become more important.
• Social media driven web references and citations will matter more.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 5:01 pm and is filed under SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.