Quote:
Originally Posted by vangogh
I think it's fair to think that search engines will continue to collect behavioral data and when and where they find it useful and effective will use that data as a ranking factor.
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I agree. For any search engine to stay on top, the search results need to be the most relevant results for the user, not the best or most consistent for websites who know how to optimize their onsite and offsite factors to meet the search engine's latest algorithm.
Until Google came along, it seemed like every year I was moving my primary reliance from one search engine to the next. AltaVista was great, for a while. Then I used Hotbot. Then Teoma. There were others that I can't even remember. Someone was always coming up with a better search method that made my searches more productive.
I suspect that behavioral data is VERY relevant. The type of information supplied by Google Analytics - time spent on pages, bounce rates, exit pages - all probably help signal how useful a site is. I would be surprised if that information was NOT used by Google, if not now then soon.