Intent research vs. keyword research
In 2020, Frédéric Dubut of Bing told us: “Keyword research are probably going to become slowly obsolete and you’ll need to switch to intent research as a practice.”
Barry Schwartz asked Google’s John Mueller about Dubut’s statement. Here’s what Mueller said:
- “There’s probably always gonna be a little bit of room for keyword research because you’re kind of providing those words to users. And even if search engines are trying to understand more than just those words, showing specific words to users can make it a little bit easier for them to understand what your pages are about and can sometimes drive a little bit of that conversion process.”
So, is keyword research obsolete yet? In 2023, there definitely has been a significant shift in the way SEOs think about user intent, or the search intent behind a query. But keyword research is still far from obsolete.
Read all about it in Google’s John Mueller on intent research vs keyword research for 2020.
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2020: Search engines continue to get better at understanding intent and rely less on keywords. But Mueller wouldn’t go as far as to say keyword research practices will or should go away anytime soon.
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Google Assistant updates: Airline check-ins, hotel bookings, language translation and Maps
2019: Google was working hard to make the Assistant (and by extension, Home) a transactional platform.
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2019: Lily Ray on changes to how sites are evaluated, dealing with traffic drops due to algorithm changes, Google’s search quality rater guidelines and more.
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2018: Verified users in Google Search Console were about to get access the new Search Performance, Index Coverage, AMP status and Job posting reports.
Google removes addiction treatment ads from UK search results
2018: An investigation revealed an ongoing issue with middlemen bidding on the terms and receiving large kickbacks from the private centers where the searchers were ultimately referred to – a practice called “patient brokering.”
Google accidentally removes news publishers from Google News
2018: Google called it an “unintentional technical issue.”
It’s Google Home vs. Amazon Alexa at CES in the battle for the voice ecosystem
2018: Google and Amazon both announced new device partnerships; the Google Assistant would be on new “smart display” devices, more TVs, speakers and in cars.
Google announces solution to longstanding AMP cache URL display problem
2018: Google said it was making a change to stop displaying Google URLs, instead of the publisher URLs, in search results served from the AMP cache.
Search In Pics: GoogleBot & BB-8, Google Onesie & Tesla Model X
2016: The latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have and more.
Google Now Bugs Remove Cards From Users While Google Now Tests Custom Background Themes
2015: Some users were missing their Google Now cards, which they rely on to see if there will be traffic on the way to work, how cold it may be or other useful information for their day.
AdWords Reach Reporting Moves To The Campaigns Tab
2015: Google moved the Reach and Frequency report out of the Dimensions tab to the Campaigns tab.
Bing’s New Best-Sellers Carousel Helps Readers Find Just The Right Book
2015: Microsoft’s search engine started displaying a carousel of New York Times best-selling books when searching for specific book genres.
Google France Homepage Goes “Je Suis Charlie” In Memory Of Charlie Hebdo Victims
2015: Google France added the “Je Suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”) badge on its homepage, honoring the lives lost during the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, France.
Yahoo’s News Digest App Is “Summly 2.0”
2014: CEO Marissa Mayer introduced the new news app at CES. Summly was acquired by Yahoo in March 2013 for an estimated $30 million.
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2014: Ad network Chitika released a new tool that provided a user percentage or traffic market-share breakdown of PC operating system and search usage on a state-by-state basis.
Google’s Matt Cutts On Publishers With Duplicate Content: Use The Canonical Tag
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Google Mulling Several Ways To Integrate Ads On Maps
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Yahoo To Keep BOSS In Microsoft Deal, May Charge In Future
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Google Fast Flip Now On Google News Home Page
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2009: 25% of Rimm-Kaufman’s clients increased their PPC spend 2008 Q4 vs. 2007, while 75% pulled back PPC spend.
Google Testing New AdWords Budgeting Option: Timeframe
2009: Timeframe gave advertisers a new budgeting method that automatically adjusted the daily budget based on traffic to reach a set dollar budget as per the calendar month.
Google SMS Search Is Down … For The Count?
2009: “Sorry, ‘[search term]’ did not return any results”.
Google StreetView, GPS Save Kidnapped Girl
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Microsoft To Buy Fast Search For $1.23 Billion
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Google & YouTube TVs Powered By Panasonic
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Yahoo’s Yang Outlines Vision For An Integrated, Open Yahoo 2.0
2008: Search appeared to be a piece of the overall approach but not the core here; community and trusted content sources are emphasized.
Sony In Video Deal With Google & Viacom Deals With Five Competing Online Video Providers
2008: Sony announced a deal to provide Google’s YouTube five-minute clips of some of their most popular TV shows, including “Married With Children” and “Newsradio.”
Open Letter To Wikipedia Editors: Yes, Matt Cutts Is Notable
2007: That time when Matt Cutts’s Wikipedia’s page almost got deleted.
Court OKs Narrow Use of Competitor Trademarks in Search Ads & Meta Tags
2007: A U.S. District Court ruled that the use of keyword-triggered ads and keyword metatags using trademarked terms cannot confuse consumers if the resulting ads/search results don’t display a competitor’s trademarks.
An Open Letter to Paid Search Networks
2007: Search marketer Jeffrey Rohrs published an open letter to paid search providers asking critical questions about billing practices, transparency, click fraud and other issues
Yahoo Introduces Yahoo Go 2.0, Mobile Search & Other Apps
2007: While second to Google in Web search, the company was hoping it could lead the market for mobile search and associated advertising with a new offering tailored for use on handsets.
Search Engine ChaCha Announces $6 Million Round
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Advertisers Cutting Google AdWords Spending With Surge of Keyword Prices
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From Search Marketing Expo (SMX)
Past contributions from Search Engine Land’s Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
These columns are a snapshot in time and have not been updated since publishing, unless noted. Opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.
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Danny Goodwin is Managing Editor of Search Engine Land & SMX. In addition to writing daily about SEO, PPC, and more for Search Engine Land, Goodwin also manages Search Engine Land’s roster of subject-matter experts. He also helps program our conference series, SMX – Search Marketing Expo.
Prior to joining Search Engine Land, Goodwin was Executive Editor at Search Engine Journal, where he led editorial initiatives for the brand. He also was an editor at Search Engine Watch. He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.
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