As I read and watched the news results and videos for the hyped Apple iPad, I couldn’t help but wonder what affect this might have on internet searches.  Does this mean that the iPad will increase search volume because it would be more accessible due to the iPad?  Will the larger display of the iPad (basically an enlarged version of an iPod Touch) allow people to see more sponsored links causing more people to click on those links?  Or, will is the iPad not quite what we hoped and will have no affect at all?

First, I think the iPad is a pretty neat device for the educational sector.  Universities could use the iPad for textbooks and possible subsidize it.  This might cause searches to increase because instead of using a textbook in the classroom, all the students would be on an iPad and have the ability to surf the web.  This also means that students would be reading and doing homework from an iPad, meaning they would be more tempted to connect to the internet because it would be right at their fingertips.  So, I could foresee the frequency of searches increasing if the education field began using the iPad.

I could also see that more people would click on sponsored links if they were using an iPad versus an iPod Touch.  I say this because of the larger screen.  I think this would make the links more visible to the user and as Scott Forstall, the Senior Vice President of iPhone software, said, “If you see something, you just reach out and tap it, you don’t even have to think about it.”  If you saw a sponsored link, maybe you’ll just reach out and tap it without even thinking about it.

However, I could only foresee an increase in searches and the clicking of sponsored links if many people buy the iPad.  I do not know how many people will because the iPad won’t fit in your pocket, but then again, Apple could not get Amazon’s customers that are using the Kindle.  If Kindle users switched to the iPad, along with all the iPod Touch users, I could really see an increase in the amount of searches and the clicks of sponsored links.

All in all, these are just really my thoughts and speculations, but I could really see some of these things happening and the iPad adding power to the power of search engines.  Thus, it is becoming more and more relevant for businesses to advertise online and to really have a web presence in order to gain business and to succeed.