Google Audio Indexing: Review and SEO Implications - GAudi Improvements, Uses, SEO Implications
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There is room for improvement with GAudi. It would be nice, for example, if GAudi knew that "homosexual" and "gay" refer to the same thing. Other users of GAudi report stumbling across relatively random results. One noted that when he searched on "Keith Richards," he got "a speech by Mike Huckabee about pardoning Keith on a reckless driving charge."
Another improvement I'd suggest was also mentioned by several users on the Google Group for GAudi. If Google has a text version of the spoken content, which one assumes it must in order to be able to do the searches, why can't the search engine run the text across the bottom of the video as is done for close-captioned TV?
One can only hope that these improvements make it into an expanded version of GAudi. Everyone who has commented on the new service is convinced that Google will expand its use of the technology at least throughout YouTube. The search giant has hinted as much in its list of GAudi frequently asked questions. Under the question "I would like my content to be 'speech-searchable,' what do I do?" Google states that "All served videos come from YouTube channels. You should first upload your content to YouTube."
Assuming Google does expand the tool's search sphere, what can we expect? Well, one thing we may see is the release of the API, which would allow developers to use it in their own sites in some unique ways. Imagine letting visitors to your web site search every video you have posted for the specific content they want. It could make instructional videos more useful to students trying to review. Converting the entire spoken content of a video - or even just a section of it - to text that can be printed out (which may eventually be possible with this technology) and reviewed at any time could also help someone studying information from a how-to video or online lecture.
Of course, this brings us to the SEO implications. While it is true that Google is currently only searching videos on YouTube, and those only in a particular channel, it is possible that the search giant will turn its probing eyes and ears to other videos. Right now, if you want to be first in line to make your videos more searchable, you need to upload them to YouTube. That probably won't be true forever. Eventually, it will be every bit as important, if not more, that the keywords you use for ranking your videos actually get spoken in your videos, and don't appear just in the typical places, such as title, H1, body text of the page on which the video appears, anchor text in links leading to the page, and so on.
Overall, I would say this tool offers a great start to making formerly unsearchable content accessible to users looking for specific things. It can use improvement, but its timing is excellent, both in terms of coming out during the heat of the U.S. Presidential election campaign, and in terms of how popular audio and video content is becoming online. And while you can't yet discard all of the tricks you use to help the spiders understand what your videos are about, that time may be coming soon.
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