Google has added a new search feature which offers results as users type in the query.
It says Google Instant will be available in US and several European markets this week and will be rolled out worldwide in the coming months.
Google said its “key insight” was that people take about 300 milliseconds between keystrokes, but only 30 milliseconds to glance at another part of the page, meaning they can scan results page as they type.
The typical searcher now takes more than nine seconds to enter a search term, and often up to 30 seconds or more. Google Instant can shave two to five seconds per search, Google said.
Instant requires a user to be logged into a Google account and will be available for Chrome, Safari 5.0 and Internet Explorer 8.0 browsers.
Google execs said the new feature was designed to have no impact on the way ads were served on Google sites.
However, Danielle Leitch, an executive vice president at search ad firm MoreVisibility, said Instant could alter costs for Google advertisers, Wall Street Journal reported.
“An ad could be displayed several different times as someone types letters, thereby deflating the advertiser's click-through rate and lowering their ad quality score on Google,” Leitch said.
Separately, GigaOm’s Liz Gannes said Google Instant behaved like a mobile app, which is often a trimmed-down and personalized version of a web app.
Instant for mobile is due to launch in this quarter but the app, which requires constant communication with Google’s servers to autocomplete results, may be too demanding for 3G networks, Gannes suggested.
“When Google launches Instant on mobile and in the browser we’ll get a better idea of its potential impact,” she wrote.