Google might Use Your TV Viewing As A Ranking Signal

Google might Use Your TV Viewing As A Ranking Signal

It looks virtually crazy to suppose that Google might deliver your search results supported what you’re look on TV at any purpose in time, however it’s not out of the realm of chance, and therefore the company was even granted a patent to be ready to to simply that.

Should Google use TV viewing as a ranking signal? Share your thoughts within the comments.

Google clearly has loads of patents, and they’re not all directly used or essentially used for what you’d expect, however the chance remains, and during this case it looks terribly probable considering this landscape of technology.

Bill Slawski at SEO by the ocean, UN agency has been look Google patents sort of a hawk for years, points America to 1 Google has been granted for a “System associate degreed technique for enhancing user search results by crucial a broadcast presently being displayed in proximity to an device.”

The Abstract of the patent is as follows:

A laptop enforced technique for mistreatment search queries associated with tv programs. A server receives a user’s search question from associate degree device.

The server then determines, in accordance with the search question {and tv|and tv} program connected info for television programs accessible at a location related to the device throughout a selected time window, a broadcast presently being displayed in proximity to the device, whereby {the tv|the tv} program connected info includes program descriptions for a plurality of television programs being broadcast for the associated location.

Google filed the patent all the manner back in 2011, and it had been simply granted on. Here ar a few diagrams showing however it might work.

Under “description of implementations” within the patent, it says:

    In some implementations, a TV viewer (sometimes observed herein as a user) has access to a laptop, set high box, sensible phone, or different Internet-connected device, whereas he or she is viewing TV content. sometimes, such a TV viewer executes search queries on the Internet-connected device associated with the TV content he or she is look. for instance, once the user is look a television show regarding life, he or she would possibly execute searches on the Internet-connected device associated with the actual animal species being represented therein program. As another example, a viewer UN agency is look a pic would possibly execute searches regarding locations or the actors showing within the pic. Such a viewer once getting into a research question would possibly use search terms that ar associated with however not a dead ringer for the actual content being represented within the program he or she is viewing. for instance, somebody look a television show with a phase a couple of explicit model of Porsche would possibly execute a research question for “Porsche” or “sports cars” rather than the designation of the actual model that was the topic of the phase.

    Some implementations leverage the very fact that some TV viewers enter search queries throughout, and associated with, TV programs they're viewing to boost the standard of the search results came back to such users. In some implementations, this improvement is provided by a research engine with access to comprehensive info regarding the content and geographic accessibility of TV programming for several completely different modes of live TV broadcasting (e.g., cable, over the air, satellite and Internet-streaming). In some implementations, a research engine compares a research question it receives to the content of TV programs that ar presumptively accessible to the user UN agency dead the search question (based on the time the search question was submitted and a location related to the user/the user’s device). In some implementations, the program will confirm the situation of the user from a user profile or different info entered by the user. In some implementations, the program will confirm the user’s/device’s location from the information processing address of the Internet-connected device utilized by the user or, betting on user settings and capabilities of the Internet-connected device utilized by the user, location info related to a GPS receiver within the Internet-connected device, a famed location of a close-by local area network transmitter, or a famed location of a close-by mobile/cellular communication tower. once there's an appropriate degree of correlation between the program info and therefore the user’s search question (e.g., once the user executes a question  for “Porsche” throughout constant time window a television show is airing that features a phase a couple of explicit Porsche model), the program returns increased search results supported the presumption that the user in question was look that specific television show–or that the user in question would have an interest in look that specific TV program. for instance, on condition that the Porsche model in question could be a “911 Turbo,” which the user dead a research question for “Porsche,” the server will come back info regarding one or additional of : 1) the “911 Turbo” model (e.g., a link to info on the Porsche.com web site regarding the “911 Turbo”), 2) info regarding the television show that's presently airing therewith phase, and 3) suggestions of comparable programming that's presently airing or airing within the future which is offered to the user. during this manner, implementations offer increased search results to viewers of live TV that ar relevant to the content of TV programs that {they ar|they're} look or are possible to have an interest in look.

Google will already hear your TV from your mobile device with the “Listen to TV” feature launched last year. It conjointly includes a terribly cheap device within the Chromecast that has users virtually plugging Google into their TVs.

TV viewing as a ranking signal might find yourself being a reasonably important a part of however Google delivers results to folks sure enough styles of queries.

Twitter has tutored America time and time once more that tv plays a really important role in a lot of of our on-line activity, thus it makes an excellent deal of sense that Google would contemplate that once delivering search results.

Slawki writes in his report on the patent, “I’m reaching to got to crop up the sound on my TV, and judge fastidiously what to observe, and take a look at this. it'd be terribly fascinating if it works. Is Google clued in to what you're look on TV? If thus, is that through a group high box, or a web enabled television?”

“If true, can this modification the manner that I do keyword research?” he adds. “Will it alter however I produce content for the online, or decide upon page titles or meta descriptions? I’m undecided, however i'm stunned.”

The prospect of Google mistreatment this actually causes you to admit what it'd mean for SEO.