Mountain View, California — The Internet is swirling with talks about search engine giant Google is experimenting with a new manifestation of its search engine that rejiggers results pages as you type your query, in real-time, according to a video captured by a UK-based SEO.
A U.K. Based search engine optimization consultant Rob Ousbey, who was the first to discover that Google has been testing an instant search feature. Essentially, it is a “streaming” search results page that appears to use Google Suggest technology to change the entire search results page based on the changing nature of your query. That means search results start popping up as the user types, changing dynamically as the user continues typing.
A Google spokesman would neither confirm nor disprove the test. But upon examining the video, Google refers to this as “streaming” search. The innovative technology combines Google’s prognostic text tool to stream results while the user enters their query, essentially eliminating the need to initiate a search and load a new page, according to blogger Rob Ousbey. The results of the search are continually modified in real time with each stroke of the key.
However, a source close to Google confirmed the integrity of Ousbey’s video, noting that the company is currently testing the service with a small selection of users, it has yet to confirm whether it will integrate the technology into its general search function anytime soon. If the search engine behemoth is able to perfect the experimental web feature, users may soon find browsing the Internet to be a less arduous and more efficient process.
According to a Yankee Group analyst Zeus Kerravala, remarked that an instant search feature would put a lot of strain on Google’s system. Google itself has said that it handles about a billion searches a day. If the company suddenly had to produce dynamically changing search results on top of that already hefty load, it could put a lot of pressure on the computer systems running in the background.
“I think it would initially [add a lot of system stress] so they might face some short-term pain to get to the longer-term gain,” Kerravala said. “Google has built out a tremendously robust infrastructure. And my guess is that with their resources, though, if [the new feature] became a big hit, other search engines would have a hard time keeping up.”
Although the service is primarily designed to improve user’s experience, it may also support internet advertisers more efficiently spread their key demographic. All contextual ads will be modified in real time as users continue to refine their search, News.com.au reports.
Watch the video below for the full effect, but entering a few characters into the search box starts the spin cycle, as a query for “straw” changes the search results pages–and ads–from links to the Seattle Times as the “s” is typed, then the alternative Seattle newspaper The Stranger as the “stra” is typed, and finally to recipes for strawberry pie as “straw” comes into the field.
Nevertheless, industry analysts have observed for months that Google’s ongoing battle for search share with Microsoft’s Bing search engine is bringing continuing waves of innovation.
You can watch Ousbey’s video here: