Even before the Apple iPad was officially launched by Steve Jobs last January, the anticipated in the tech world was already palpable. Everyone is talking about the iPad, how it compared to other products, and its implication to search marketing. Social media was filled with iPad related updates, tweets, and posts from enthusiasts. Through this, Apple has endured countless praises and criticisms on its new product. But one thing is undeniable though: the iPad is going to be big. It may just revolutionise the way people buy and consume content. This piece of technology may be developed by innovators, programmers, and engineers. Ultimately, what will make it successful are the endless amounts of applications other developers are creating for the benefit of users. These apps, combined with iPads easy accessibility to the web, excellent performance, and reasonable battery life will contribute to its long term success. One may question though,What do all these mean to search engine optimisation? Impact on SEO Apple iPad and search engine optimisation may seem unrelated at first glance, but upon deeper inspection, it becomes clear that the launch of the new device has a significant implication on the future of searching. First of all, the iPad cannot support websites with Flash content.Though majority of websites don’t contain Flash, it limits the ability of users to have optimal search experience on the web. The restriction of Flash content is seen by many individuals as a limited imposed by Apple to other publishers and consumers. If the iPad takes off as expected, web designers might be forced to use other forms of design on their websites to make it compatible with the iPad. HTML 5, Is It the Solution?

A lot of work is being done behind the scenes right now. HTML5 is positioned to become the next standard for XHTML 1.0, HTML 4.01, and DOM Level 2 HTML. It minimises the requirement to use Rich Internet Application (IRA) plug-ins such as Microsoft Silverlight, Adobe Flash, and Sun JavaFX. Expect HTML 5 to launch new attributes that reflects today’s web behaviour. It will make browsing easier, faster, and seamless. Semantic replacement will be used for inline elements and generic blocks. Through this standard interface, various types of media can be displayed automatically. This development will affect SEO exactly because elements like tags <center>, <font>, etc. will be eliminated.