So how do we create our own websites to match this criteria and stay ahead of competitors?

Here are 5 lessons to keep in mind:

1. What exactly is your keyword? Many websites fail to provide for misspelled words, phonetics and synonyms. There are many tools that can be used to help.

2. “0 Results Found” This is one of the most frustrating phrases to web users. If your search engine is unable to match the visitor’s search query, use alternatives such as a lit of the best sellers or best rated products, or provide a phone number to call for help.

3. Keep it simple: Many people are intimidated by advanced search options and often lack knowledge of search operator commands. Keep your search engine at easy with smart links and navigation.

4. Provide options: Google provides users with endless possibilities to breakdown their search. Can your users search by new arrivals? Best rated? Can they get a “quick look”?

5. Stay up to date: It is important to keep up with emerging trends in search industry. Web user behaviors will evolve, as will their expectations. Be sure to promptly adjust and accommodate.

If you keep these five short tips in mind while adjusting and improving your website, you will create a satisfying, relieving and successful search experience for your visitors.

Google has developed ad extensions as an incentive for advertisers to educate themselves and follow Google’s best practices. In doing so, advertisers will obtain a strong ROI and allow for a smooth experience for the consumer. Google’s engineers also use ad extensions to understand search behavior and correct the search algorithm accordingly.

Google’s new additions have been compared the latest advertising additions of Facebook. Facebook’s advertising spend is a small share of the total United States search marketing spend, which was $3.94 billion in 2010. Their figure is around 11 to 12 of that, as estimated by eMarketer.

However, as online shopping behavior becomes more sophisticated, peer reviews will become an increasingly significant part of a pleasant online shopping experience. People are more likely to trust product reviews written by their friends versus those written by strangers.

The addition of seller ratings and ad extension benefits all parties in the long run. Consumers will experience a satisfying shopping environment, advertisers will be rewarded for practicing good customer service, and Google will have another way to eliminate less competent advertisers.

The only complaint for seller ratings is on how they only apply to merchants with an average rating of four stars or higher. Should Google give merchants with lower ratings an equal opportunity?

The Old Google News:

The old Google News was designed to present stories in “sections” such as Top Stories, Recommended Stories, and Local News. There were also sections organized by topic, such as US News, World News and Business.

The New Google News:

The new Google News has only two main sections: Top News and News For You, a new personalized section.

As users come to the Google News website, they will be asked to set their personal preferences, such as type and frequency. This mix is the used to create which stories are shown. Visitors are also still able to organize news stories into sections, as in the old way, read top stories and view trending topics.

Google has also added the “star” feature, which allows users to bookmark stories, giving Google a signal that they are interested in a particular topic. There is a Spotlight section as well, where Google’s algorithms choose stories which they feel should be featured for a longer period on the Google News home page.

What do you think of Google News’ new redesign?

Mashable reports that “according to ClickZ, ads appear in a box with the Twitter bird icon in the upper left-hand corner and the advertisers’ latest tweet in the center. To the right is a button prompting viewers to follow the advertiser on Twitter, which they can do without having to leave Google. Clicking on any other part of the ad directs the user to the advertiser’s Twitter page”.

Google has used Norway-based firm Qualite Search Marketing for testing. Mashable says that the firm reports only “a modest boost” to its follower count since testing on the platform began in May.

One question to ask is, will an increase in followers automatically mean an increase in engagement? That will be the true test of success.

What will the new extensions tab do? Google AdWords’ blog writes, “from the Ad Extensions tab, you can see statistics for any of your campaign ad extensions. You can choose to see “All” or “All but deleted” extensions, and you can also choose the type of ad extensions to view, such as location or product extensions”.

How can users enable ad extension tabs for their AdWords campaigns? The tab automatically appears in an account when a user has enabled ad extensions in at least one campaign.

Have you started using ad extensions?

Additionally, it will be useful to track and measure incoming calls.

Google also reports that advertisers who participated in the beta trial have seen improved click-through rates. Plus, many advertisers received more visits to their websites in addition to incremental phone calls.

Google has now opened its beta Social Search to everyone. ReadWriteWeb writes, “The experimental feature will surface search results from the social streams (bookmarks, blog posts, photos, etc.) of a user’s contacts on services like Gmail, Google Reader or Twitter”. ReadWriteWeb also notes that Social Search is clearly blowing past Facebook’s search function. One issue that comes up when talking about Social Search, however, is: Why would anyone want to limit the Internet to their social circle? Luckily, this doesn’t have to be the case. Social Search is a mix of the Internet and your contacts.

How do you see Social Search playing out?

With advanced segmentation, users can delve deeper into your site’s traffic. For instance, the average time on site for all site visits could be two minutes, but when you segment by country, you might learn that average time on site of visits from the U.S. is 60 seconds. With Google’s new API you can now create advanced segmentations on the fly by specifying their expression directly through an API query. You can also use advanced segments created in the Google Analytics web interface through the API.

As for Custom Variables, Google writes, “Custom variables are powerful new ways to describe visitors, visits and pages within Google Analytics. In this new release, we’ve added 10 new dimensions to access custom variable data. In addition, every custom variable that you’ve used is now available through the Account Feed”.

How will you use Google Analytics’ new features?

How will real-time search work in Google? Users can click on “Latest results” or select “Latest” from the search options menu to view live tweets, blogs, news and other web content scrolling right on Google. Google states that users can filter their results to see only “Updates” from micro-blogs like Twitter, FriendFeed, Jaiku and others. Results are also said to be mobile-ready for on-the-go users. Google has also added “hot topics” to Google Trends to show the most common topics users are publishing to the web in real-time.

Will Google’s new real-time search flourish? Only time will tell.

Google says, “just in time for the holidays, we’ve made it easier to find discounts when you’re on the go. If a business adds a mobile coupon to its Google Local Business Center listing, you’ll be able to access it from your mobile device. Just go to google.com on your phone and search for a local business”. From there, users can go to the business’ Place page, pull any coupons and then show the business the coupon for redemption.

Have you started using coupons in your Place Pages?