Universal Search is rapidly becoming the next big step in search engine evolution. Universal Search is the integration of multiple kinds of media into search results. Search engine monster Google was the first to release universal search. Google's users recently may have noticed images, YouTube videos, and other forms of media showing up in the standard results page. The other major search engines have all either recently rolled out their own versions of Universal Search or have announced plans to do so. Such a significant change in the operation of every major search engine warrants close attention from SEO companies.

This is not the first time Google has introduced multiple kinds of results on the same search page. For instance, Google has long put pay-per-click advertisements, local results, and book search results at the top of the main search page. It is also not the first time the company has offered searches in multiple kinds of media...

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When I was little, my parents and I lived next to a mom and pop shop called Wascana Grocery. Run by Kenny and May Mah, this small corner grocery store had nearly everything you might need with a little something extra: that personal service that made all the difference. With butcher skills that he took pride in showing, Kenny knew exactly how my mom wanted her cuts of beef. And Mrs. Mah, smiling Mrs. Mah, she always found a way to slip the children a caramel or bubblegum before we left the store. Those little differences kept us coming back.

This was in the beginning of the 1960's and supermarkets were just starting to steamroll their way into town. When they finally arrived, it became tough for Kenny and his family to compete and they had to change. They could no longer afford being a butchery and stopped that aspect of the business, trading it for fizzy drinks and potato chips, what the convenience market demanded.

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