Google Instant

[Chris3123]

Google has just started rolling out a new feature: Google Instant.

Google Instant is rolling out over several days to users signed in to a Google Account. Check back soon if you are signed in and do not see it yet.

Google Instant is a new search enhancement that shows results as you type. We are pushing the limits of our technology and infrastructure to help you get better search results, faster. Our key technical insight was that people type slowly, but read quickly, typically taking 300 milliseconds between keystrokes, but only 30 milliseconds (a tenth of the time!) to glance at another part of the page. This means that you can scan a results page while you type.


The most obvious change is that you get to the right content much faster than before because you don’t have to finish typing your full search term, or even press “search.” Another shift is that seeing results as you type helps you formulate a better search term by providing instant feedback. You can now adapt your search on the fly until the results match exactly what you want. In time, we may wonder how search ever worked in any other way.

www.google.com/instant/

I tried it out, and it's pretty cool. Though it does seem like it can be annoying sometimes. Thankfully, you can deactivate it.

For those who are able to try it out, what do you think?

 

[Spot's Meow]

I tried it and it seems interesting, will probably be a nice addition. Though I was disturbed when I typed in "how do I eat" and "How do I eat my poop?" came up as one of the first responses.

 

[Brent]

The question is, did you click on "how do I eat my poop" to find out

 

[Deranged Nasat]

...you don’t have to finish typing your full search term, or even press “search.”

Forgive my lack of computer knowledge, but...how is that different from what it does already?

 

[doubleohfive]

I tried it and it seems interesting, will probably be a nice addition. Though I was disturbed when I typed in "how do I eat" and "How do I eat my poop?" came up as one of the first responses.

So... what you're saying is Jayson obviously went to work for Google?

 

[Deranged Nasat]

It has 7 answers, apparently.

 

[Lindley]

...you don’t have to finish typing your full search term, or even press “search.”

Forgive my lack of computer knowledge, but...how is that different from what it does already?

Previously it only suggested possible completions for your query as you type. Now it can actually show you search results for your query as you type.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

...you don’t have to finish typing your full search term, or even press “search.”

Forgive my lack of computer knowledge, but...how is that different from what it does already?

Previously it only suggested possible completions for your query as you type. Now it can actually show you search results for your query as you type.

Ohhhh. Thanks. And, again, sorry. When it comes to comprehending the use of computers (or the use of any technology more advanced than the wheel), I fall to pieces.

Really, it's a minor miracle I can get onto the BBS

 

[Alidar Jarok]

It's not bad. A cool change that probably required a lot of effort on their part, but will minimally impact us for the better.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I won't be satisfied until I get a morning email with all my search results for the upcoming day.

 

[SVD]

It's not bad. A cool change that probably required a lot of effort on their part, but will minimally impact us for the better.

Just "not bad?"

It's mind blowing to watch happen!

 

[Rett Mikhal]

I bet the top thing people have searched for is "How do I get the old google image search back?"

 

[M'Sharak]

I bet the top thing people have searched for is "How do I get the old google image search back?"

There's no search required. All they need to do is look at the bottom of any page of search results in Google Image:

 

[TorontoTrekker]

It's not bad. A cool change that probably required a lot of effort on their part, but will minimally impact us for the better.

Nah, I don't expect that it was that difficult - it seems to me that it would be a fairly simple matter to execute the search via AJAX and refresh the body of the search results portion of the page as each keystroke occurs. (I've written a similar algorithm for the content management system I support - though it only has to scan the titles of some 400 blog posts and display those that match the search request as it's typed, not the bajillions of pages on the Web and all their content.)

Now, optimizing the algorithm to return the search results as quickly as they do, that's the amazing thing.

 

[tomalak301]

It's going to take some time to get used to. I guess this means the "I Feel Lucky" tab is useless now. Right now though, it's a little weird.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

It's not bad. A cool change that probably required a lot of effort on their part, but will minimally impact us for the better.

Just "not bad?"

It's mind blowing to watch happen!

It might be technically impressive, but it doesn't really impact my searches much. Unless I'm truly uncertain what I'm looking for, I'll probably be typing things in before I look at the results. That's why I can't fault them, but I'm not wowed by this.

 

[Naira]

I won't be satisfied until I get a morning email with all my search results for the upcoming day.

I am working on that, when I get my PhD I'll notify you

 

[SiorX]

Holy cognitive dissonance, Batman.

Because it generates results while you type, by the time you've gotten to the last character it has kept up with you, and you don't actually need to hit enter. The enter key does nothing; my search results are already sitting there a split second before my finger automatically hits return.

It's just a matter of getting used to it, but at the moment it's all a bit unheimlich.

 

[Pingfah]

I must say, the google suggestions have considerably slowed my searching down, because I find myself typing to slowly and scanning the list to see where it comes up. More out of interest than any desire to actually save time by clicking on the suggestion in the list.

 

[Shazam!]

It's certainly better than their new image search.