Search traffic vs. social networks

There is an interesting trend occurring in the online space.  For years search companies, both SEM and SEO have been leveraging their expertise to master search engines' algorithm to make millions from companies to boost their rankings in both paid and organic search results.  This expertise is heavily founded upon mastering the algorithm with supplemental knowledge of how people go about their searches for products, content, etc.

With the advent of MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Imeem and the flock, things are a changing.  I work for an internet measurement company with a focus on competitive intelligence so I am lucky enough to scope the evolution of the internet in real time.  It's not uncommon to see a website's traffic be 20-50% from search (google, yahoo, msn, live, mamma, etc.)  However, more and more the social networking community space is often times contributing the same if not more of a websites traffic. 

This is revolutionary.  Now marketers are forced to be experts on human behavior much more than algorithmic behaviors where up until now it has been the opposite.  This  is good and bad.  This means marketers will have to be much more in tune with how people organically interact on social networks, what ignites participation, what impels them to leave this playground for another site and so on.   The bad news is you're gonna get corporate monkeys who are so out of touch with the scene that they think they can fake it, like these chumps.

Regardless of this, we are witnessing a democratization of website traffic acquisition as its shifting power from those that master algorithms to those that can master human interaction...at least interaction online.

Update

Comments

[Santa Monica Jeremy]

Fascinating...

After several years of having trash sites show up in Google searches, I was wondering how long it would take for an alternative paradigm to arrive... looks like it's finally here, thank god!

:)

[bob]

Eric,

How would I get some credible numbers to put behind that claim?

Thanks.

Bob.

[Eric Jones]

Hey Bob I am emailing you now with credible numbers and data.

[Banner Signs]

You are completely correct with this article. If people don't start paying attention to social networking traffic they may get left behind. I've had to force myself to work with them but I'm slowly but surely getting good at it.