Barnhart

Google launched its insane Real Time Search feature earlier this month…and I bet you didn’t even notice. When you search for just about anything (that people are talking about), you’ll see a smaller window with a scroll bar within the search results, labeled “Latest results for…” This window will pick up a Twitter update about your search topic, a blog post that was published only moments earlier, or a breaking news story on your local news station’s site.

Beyond being just a super cool feature, what does this mean for organizations marketing their brand? It means you have less control. The consumer has the power. David Yost, Barnhart’s creative director gave a great example of how this works: “So you just finished your Double-Double Animal-Style Burger at In-and-Out. You shoot out a Tweet about how great it was. Then halfway around the world someone searches for In-and-Out and, along with the restaurant chain’s website, up comes your tweet just seconds later. You no longer have to even finish the burger and you can comment. Wow. Cool and dangerous.”

So how do you control this new stream of information? You don’t. Your product needs to be great and your customer service even better. You might even think about responding to some of the critical comments you’re seeing, engaging the audience and maybe changing some minds.

See how the Real Time Search works below, then search for something you’re interested in.