Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Google's Instant Search

Google has just announced a new search enhancement that promises to “change the way you search”. Will this new enhancement fundamentally change the way we search? Or is it just a small feature enhancement with great marketing buzz?

http://www.google.com/instant/


8 comments:

  1. I consider it to be a small feature enhancement.

    There may be unintended consequences -- confusion for people who are either not used to it, or are distracted by the results that are presented. This won't be a problem for the 'Net savvy, but may be a turn-off for others ... and potentially drive some to the warm embrace of Bing and Yahoo, whose interfaces are easier to understand.

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  2. My initial impression is that it is a bit annoying, though I suppose once I get used to it, it could be helpful. Besides the potential to improve the search experience, I imagine Google had the additional motivation of increasing the sponsored search results and ads displayed since the page keeps updating as you type.

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  3. The feature will urge the user to refine his query, thereby driving traffic toward the long tail of "sponsored keywords". Given the bidding process (and CPC) by which Google sells advertising, the impact of instant search on its revenue will probably be very positive.
    - More sponsored keywords (and thus advertising space) will be available
    - Refined queries generate more relevant ads and Google is paid per click
    - The effect on the pricing of the generic (and highly expensive) keywords is unclear. One the one hand, the user is less likely to "limit himself" to basic requests which should drive the prices down. On the other hand, even if he doesn't "stop" there, he will see the sponsored results for basic requests and may click on them. To a certain extent, this may even force more advertisers to compete on these in order to make sure the user doesn't "stop his search" on a generic sponsored keyword before reaching their advertisement.

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  4. Yahoo claims the first to come out with "instant search" 5 years ago. I believe there must be a reason why this didn't help Yahoo! built the competitive advantage then. But Google is good at making miracles. So who can tell what will it be this time...

    Below is the link to Blog of Shashi Seth (SVP, Yahoo! Search Products)

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  5. http://www.ysearchblog.com/2010/09/10/innovation-is-alive-in-search/

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  6. I am a bit puzzled by the value this enhancement brings. If you take a simple look at it, I don't see significant value from an end-user perspective. Before instant search, I could still refine my search query and hit the search button again. Now with instant search I simply use the back space button to refine my search.

    I definitely like the on-demand movement with other things like video, but this instant search strikes me as "search on demand" and I don't see the significant value.

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  7. I think the value of this enhancement has to do more with keeping current google users attracted to the site. The instant search is honestly a flashy asset of google and doesn't speed up search time by more than a second or two that it takes to hit the enter button. However, for all those who use google searches on a regular basis, is a reaffirmation to the user that they are the newest, best, search engine in the users eyes. Seeing a flashy improvement once in awhile can be very attractive and keep users from defecting to other search engines and services.

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  8. After using Google Instant for more than a month now, I personally feel that Instant is just a small feature enhancement to Google's already enormous search capabilities. Instant isn't changing the results that are being returned; it's just offering results on a letter-by-letter or word-by-word real-time basis. Capabilities like semantic web searching would change the way search works, but for now, Instant is just a real-time search feature that will ultimately return the same returns as a full-fledged Google search.

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