Friday, September 10, 2010

Google Instant Provides New Search Capabilities


Posted by Amanda Walsh

Google has finally debuted their new search feature, Google Instant. According to the website, “Google Instant is a new search enhancement that shows results as you type.” The company also shared the following “Did you know?” facts about Google Instant:

* Before Google Instant, the typical searcher took more than 9 seconds to enter a search term, and we saw many examples of searches that took 30-90 seconds to type.
* Using Google Instant can save 2-5 seconds per search.
* If everyone uses Google Instant globally, we estimate this will save more than 3.5 billion seconds a day. That’s 11 hours saved every second.
* 15 new technologies contribute to Google Instant functionality.

Google Instant only works if you are signed into a Google account. This may be a part of an effort to encourage more people to sign up for Google Accounts. The Instant feature can be turned off if you find it bothersome - simply adjust your settings via the Google.com/preferences page. For now, the Instant search is only available in the USA. To read more about this check out the article, “Google Instant - 10 Things Marketing Teams Need to Know.”

The Google Instant unveiling comes after a week of tantalizing “doodles” or logos on the Google landing page that kept everyone wondering what the big surprise would be.

On September 7, the company made public a fun, kinetic-like “doodle” or logo on the landing page. Dozens of boisterous balls formed the Google logo but scattered when the user brought their mouse arrow near. Check out a video here. The very next day, another doodle was put up on Google.com that featured a colorless Google logo. When a user began to type in their search query, the letters in the Google doodle would be filled-in with a different color after each keystroke. Read more about that here.

In my opinion, Google did a great job growing buzz around the unveiling of Google Instant. Everyone took notice of the changing logos and the people at Google posted tweets to build curiosity even more. What do you think about Google Instant and the build up to the unveiling of the new feature?

The more important question that has the blogosphere humming is, how do you think Google Instant will effect Search Engine Optimization? I'm curious to see more statistics and numbers as website analytics show the effects this new feature. Stay tuned!

(photo credit: devicemag.com)

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