Google Speeds Up Searching
Google search engine will display results before users finish typing their queries, powered by a technology dubbed "Google Instant," Google said on Wednesday.
Google describes "Google Instant" as a search-before-you-type. Instant takes what you have typed already, predicts the most likely completion and streams results in real-time for those predictions?yielding a smarter and faster search that is interactive, predictive and powerful.
Here are a few of the core features in Google Instant:
- Dynamic Results - Google dynamically displays relevant search results as you type so you can quickly interact and click through to the web content you need.
- Predictions - One of the key technologies in Google Instant is that we predict the rest of your query (in light gray text) before you finish typing. See what you need? Stop typing, look down and find what you?re looking for.
- Scroll to search - Scroll through predictions and see results instantly for each as you arrow down.
To bring Google Instant to life, Google needed a host of new technologies including new caching systems, the ability to adaptively control the rate at which Google shows results pages and an optimization of page-rendering JavaScript to help web browsers keep up with the rest of the system. In the end, Google needed to produce a system that was able to scale while searching as fast as people can type and think?all while maintaining the relevance and simplicity.
The user benefits of Google Instant are many?but the primary one is time saved. Google's testing has shown that Google Instant saves the average searcher two to five seconds per search. That may not seem like a lot at first, but it adds up. With Google Instant, Google estimates that will save its users 11 hours with each passing second.
As part of the current rollout, Google Instant will become the core search experience on Google.com for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE 8. Google will also be offering Google Instant to users in France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and the U.K. who are signed in and have Instant-capable browsers. Over the coming weeks and months, Google will roll out Google Instant to all geographies and platforms.
Instant does not impact the ranking of search results, and will be also available on mobile soon, Google added.
The new technology could help Google, the world's No. 1 search engine, further increase its market share. Google is facing increased competition from Microsofts Bing search engine, which recently signed a search partnership with Yahoo.
New technologies, such as the specialized applications that run on Apple's iPhones and fast-growing social networking services such as Facebook, are also threatening to undermine Google's position as the main gateway to online information.
Here are a few of the core features in Google Instant:
- Dynamic Results - Google dynamically displays relevant search results as you type so you can quickly interact and click through to the web content you need.
- Predictions - One of the key technologies in Google Instant is that we predict the rest of your query (in light gray text) before you finish typing. See what you need? Stop typing, look down and find what you?re looking for.
- Scroll to search - Scroll through predictions and see results instantly for each as you arrow down.
To bring Google Instant to life, Google needed a host of new technologies including new caching systems, the ability to adaptively control the rate at which Google shows results pages and an optimization of page-rendering JavaScript to help web browsers keep up with the rest of the system. In the end, Google needed to produce a system that was able to scale while searching as fast as people can type and think?all while maintaining the relevance and simplicity.
The user benefits of Google Instant are many?but the primary one is time saved. Google's testing has shown that Google Instant saves the average searcher two to five seconds per search. That may not seem like a lot at first, but it adds up. With Google Instant, Google estimates that will save its users 11 hours with each passing second.
As part of the current rollout, Google Instant will become the core search experience on Google.com for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE 8. Google will also be offering Google Instant to users in France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and the U.K. who are signed in and have Instant-capable browsers. Over the coming weeks and months, Google will roll out Google Instant to all geographies and platforms.
Instant does not impact the ranking of search results, and will be also available on mobile soon, Google added.
The new technology could help Google, the world's No. 1 search engine, further increase its market share. Google is facing increased competition from Microsofts Bing search engine, which recently signed a search partnership with Yahoo.
New technologies, such as the specialized applications that run on Apple's iPhones and fast-growing social networking services such as Facebook, are also threatening to undermine Google's position as the main gateway to online information.
