Google has rolled out its latest innovation in searching recently; instant search.
This is an interesting new modification that essentially “thinks before you do” and acts somewhat like “predictive typing” on your cell phone. As you begin typing a word, the results basically change “on the fly” and settle when you stop typing for a couple of seconds.
This new feature is essentially being done with the intention of getting you to the results you were originally searching for, just faster.
Some online specs to consider: the average user search takes approximately 25 seconds, however when using Google Instant, the average search time takes on the average 2 to 5 seconds less.
This reduction in search time is accomplished in the following way; it takes nine seconds to type a query, then it requires 400 milliseconds in network wait to communicate that search to Google’s servers.
At this point, there is a wait time of 300 milliseconds while Google actually processes your request, and then another 400 millisecond wait for Google’s return to you.
Finally, it is assumed that the average user takes approximately 15 seconds to view the results and select the one that actually matches the original intent of the search.
This is not a guaranteed or hard figure, as slower broadband connections could possibly reduce the time savings to zero.
We all had to know that post -acquisition of Like.com, which is a visual search engine, some of the newly acquired functionality would be adopted or co-opted by Google for use in searches beyond the fashion world; Google goggles, I am sure, benefited the most.
Like.com had previously bragged on their ability to create algorithms that understand whether items of clothing or fashion accessories complement or clash with each other.
Given this understanding, its not hard to see where the instant searching gets some of its functionality from.
Some industries will not benefit from this new functionality; as Google Instant has omitted suggestions for words that it considers pornographic. There is no confirmation on where the lines between “pornographic” and “not pornographic” are drawn exactly.
This will most likely be a point of contention going forward, given the amount of money that pornography generates.
Previous search results for this industry are likely to be much reduced as Google will now populate results on the fly for non-pornographic results, but will not do likewise for pornography where formerly, pornography may have ranked much higher.
Another “loser” to the new functionality is the “Bing” search engine, as Microsoft engineered “instant searching” a year ago, but failed to act on it.
At the time, Microsoft was unconvinced of the merits of such a service, and now they have to watch as Google, one year later, is actually rolling it out.
Yahoo has also toyed with a variant of “instant searching” in the past, but it never caught on, and is for the most part, abandoned.
Advertisers do not seem initially to be included in the “losing” category, as Google will not change the way ads are served. Ads will also be shown with the “predicted search” and will populate and change with each keystroke as will the other data, save pornography.
The only change that we may see along these lines will be with regard to “impressions” and how they are counted. Since impressions will be counted if you click on something as normal or if you stop typing for three or more seconds, the net result will be that your impression levels may change, either up or down.
In the end, the goal will be to improve the overall quality and accuracy of searches, so the many other factors at work where traffic is concerned, may offset any adjustment made by the “predicted search” adjustment.
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