Google’s release of it’s real-time search functionality is being greeted with mixed emotion. Along with opportunity words of caution are being expressed.

Rae Hoffman of Outspoken Media highlights the opportunity not only for spam but also for the more unsavoury aspect of the web to rise to a promonent position, in his article “Google enables real time spam and more“.

Whilst this is undoubtedly true at present, I am sure Google will be onto these loopholes to ensure they deliver quality and relevant results, which is their business model.

Amongst the controversy lies opportunity, especially for the honest small or medium sized business. If you’re an SME  using Twitter to any extent or even writing a blog to promote your business, the front page of Google is now an open door. Best of all you can appear for multiple key terms for no more cost than the time it takes to send a tweet or write a blog post.

Let’s say you have an iPhone application to promote or you even sell iPhones. How much would it cost you for an Adword for the term iPhone? Or do you think you could beat Apple or O2 for search position in Google? Of course not, you would have to come up with some creative ways to attract traffic with a limited budget.

With real-time search a Tweet or Blog Post could see you appear just below Apple, and above Wikipedia, on the first page of results on Goolge.

As you can see in the above screenshot, highlighted in red – click for a larger image, the real-time results appear in the middle of the page.

Okay so your traffic is not that targeted and you only appear for a few seconds but with some creative thinking you could ensure your business maximises on this free advertising opportunity. See Google’s Blog for more information on Real-Time Search.