The world of search advertising is about to take another interesting turn. Google, among others, are playing with the notion of tying user comments to search results directly - a Search Wiki.

 

Consider searching for lets say Microsoft, not only will you get all the search results for the organisation but against each result you will have the option to see what people think and to then suggest whether or not that search result should be promoted or demoted.

 

Confused? Well nip onto Google and search for Microsoft. Once the results are shown add onto the end of the URL the following -

 

now hit return.

 

Now you can see what folks think of Microsoft. At the time of writing there were a good few negative comments about Microsoft - including a rather amusing one that simply said "Hi, I'm a Mac". The development is still largely under wraps and is only open to a closed group of Google users.

 

The notion of socially influenced search opens up interesting possibilities - some negative and some positive. Search engine optimisation techniques can already be used to abuse individuals & organisations, George W Bush and Scientology being recent examples. Highly motivated shared interest internet groups using a Search Wiki en masse could well prove the ideas downfall.

 

Nonetheless the idea is an exciting one and is another way in which many companies will be looking to mobilise positive opinion about their products and services. Public release dates for the Search Wiki arre not currently available but we look forward to finding out more.