• Search Newz, Tuesday, December 4, 2007 3:16 PM

Do a search for the '80s band Quiet Riot on Google and you'll find news, video, and an artist information page in the results above the fold. It's Universal Search, or "Web 3.0" hard at work -- since those results are likely more relevant than fan tribute sites or other text-only results.

But Richard Burckhardt notes that five of the top six results above the fold are either Google pages, Google property (YouTube), or a Google advertising partner (MySpace) -- meaning that no matter how good a fan tribute site is SEOd, it doesn't stand a chance at getting the visibility and traffic that comes from claiming one of the top-ranked spots.

Burckhardt goes on to say that it's not unimaginable to see a results page "consist of Google image, map, news, book and video links, pushing the rest of us down and potentially off of the page."

In Google's defense -- its content may actually be the most relevant. Burckhardt's advice to Web publishers and search pros? "Start optimizing now ... [it] can only help your web presence in the long run."

Read the whole story at Search Newz »