Google Provides Instant Search Results

Have you noticed something different about Google recently? Yesterday, Google started rolling out a major overhaul to its familiar homepage. Now, you'll see instant search results that are generated with each key that you type. These results will be shown in addition to the search suggestions that were previously available.

The new feature is known as Google Instant. It's based on the idea that people type more slowly than they read. Because you'll be able to scan for results while you type, Google hopes you'll find the right content more quickly than before because you won't have to finish typing a search term or even press search to find the result you want.

126 million results, just .27 seconds...

Google also notes that by seeing the results as you type them, you'll be able to formulate a better search term and adapt your search on the fly.

By predicting your search and presenting results before you're finished typing, Google believes it can save 2-5 seconds per search. Although that may not sound like much, Google estimates that if everyone uses Google Instant globally, the feature will save more than 3.5 billion seconds a day, or 11 hours every second.

Google says it will take a couple of days for Google Instant to be available to everyone on Google.com. The rollout began with users on Google domains in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Russia. The feature is currently compatible with the following browsers: Chrome v5/6, Firefox v3, Safari v5 for Mac and Internet Explorer v8.

Google's Reigning Queen of Search Product and User Experience, Marrisa Mayer