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In keeping with my approach of not overreacting to the “latest thing”, the search industry is up in arms and scared to death about the advent of Personalized Search. My opinion; lets settle down folks. Personalized search isn’t going to turn the world on its head over night. Will it eventually have an impact, sure. Will it be tomorrow and everlasting, probably not.

If we all continue to build and market websites that are good for our users (customers) then things will shake out and those companies that are the best in their industries will continue to perform well in the search engines and elsewhere. There are lots of factors to be considered with regard to how big of an impact it will have, and how quickly that will happen. Think for a moment about the percentage of people that currently have a Google account. Of all web users it’s a relative few. Then consider, out of those people how many leave it logged in without even knowing it, allowing multiple users (possibly their family) to use that account and perform searches, building up history. These are just 2 of many factors that can throw a wrench in things for Personalized Search.

In the end practicality and quality will prevail. So whether it is in fact some form of personalized search, or search as we know it now that prevails, it will be what’s best for the user because they will demand change if results don’t fit their needs. Just as everything else in business, the market will tell us what is best and we (search marketers) will do what it takes to conform.

In short, Personalized Search is a reality, but it’s not the end of the world.

Having been in the web business since ’94, I’ve been exposed to a lot. My career has gone from explaining to people what this Internet thing actually is, and setting up dial up accounts for the presidents of fortune 500 companies, (just to get them to let me talk to them while I did it) to now, working with 35 other professionals trying to keep up with the demands of our clients.   

My goal with this blog is to share some insights and observations, with anyone who might be interested, about how the web has changed from the mid 90s to now and the impact that it might have.  As many have observed, it’s impacting our business, personal and family lives.  My observations will most likely revolve around the business and economy and the impact of the web on those fronts.  There are lots of other blogs, newsletters etc. that focus on these issues, but many of those get into the bleeding edge and lofty ideas of the web and search controlling everything we do.  I’m more of a “cutting edge” kind of guy, not quite bleeding edge.  I’m an early adopter of technology, of course, but an adopter of technology that is mostly ready and adds some practical value.  So, that impacts my view of the web and some of the advances that are being made, and makes me a bit more conservative with regard to how fast things are actually going to change.  For instance; when I started out in this industry in the mid 90s, I had many of my customers asking my advice for what they should do regarding their Internet Connection.  The telecoms and ISPs, were all pitching T1s, but the little guys and startups were all hyping new technologies, saying “don’t buy a T1, new technologies are coming out that will blow their speeds away at far lower costs”.  That was over 10 years ago, and a T1 is still a pretty good idea for the average business. 

So, if you’re one of those companies still waiting for the miracle internet connection that’ll cost $10.99/month and give everyone in your fortune 500 company access to the web…give up and get a T1.