• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, September 8, 2010

Google made searches faster Wednesday with a feature that allows results to appear as queries are typed. The Mountain View, Calif. company's VP of Search Product and User Experience Marissa Mayer unveiled Google Instant at a press event in San Francisco. The tool aims to provide an easier, faster and predictive way to search.

Available on Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE 8 in the U.S. on Wednesday, Google Instant will roll out in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Russia later this week. Only signed-in users will see the tool. The feature does not yet work in mobile, video search or other modes or tools.

Mayer estimates that Google Instant will save searchers 2 to 5 seconds per query. That time savings will enable Google to serve up on average between five and seven times as many results pages per search. Mayer says Google now serves more than a billion queries daily.

Those who want to opt out can. Click on the link next to the search box on any search results page or visit the Preference page. When you opt out, Google saves that preference on a cookie, so the searcher remains opted out until the cookie is cleared. The preference will only apply to that particular computer and Internet browser, and it is not tied to the Google Account.

In an effort to speed up the Internet, Google determined that the average search request takes nine seconds to type and users spend on average 15 seconds to decide the result to pick. By the end of the year, Google estimates Google Instant will save users 350 million hours of time annually.

Mayer hailed Google co-founder Sergey Brin's wish to speed up the Internet, and read user's minds, as a turning point in search history akin to Bob Dylan's move from an acoustic to electric guitar in 1965.

Search engine marketers have mixed thoughts on the new offering. Clix Marketing Founder David Szetela says although multiple ads might display during each refresh, where a page refresh and algorithm make a guess at the meaning of the final search term as page content changes, ads displayed don't count as impressions until the searcher pauses for at least three seconds, or the person completes the search by pressing the "Enter" key or clicking on the "Search" button. "That means 'Instant Ads' get a bit of a free ride because their display doesn't count in the CTR calculation," Szetela says. "So those are free impressions in every sense of the word 'free.'"

Google Instant will not change the way ads are served, according to the company. If someone types "flow" into Google.com, the algorithms predict the user wants information on "flowers," which Google determines is the "predicted search." Based on this predicted search, Google displays both search results and ads for flowers. If the person searching on the query adds the letter "c" to the query, Google's algorithms may predict the searcher wants information on "flowcharts" and show the corresponding natural and paid results for flowchart.

For now, Szetela buys into the claim that Google Instant may ultimately improve the quality of clicks since it helps users type queries that more directly connect them with the answers they need. "Now it will be interesting to see whether advertisers try to game Instant," he says. "For example, if I'm a flower vendor, I might want to bid on the keyword 'flow,' so my company will display on the first refresh and the last refresh."

Not all believe the change will yield positive results. Matthew Whiteway, director of campaign management for paid search at search and social marketing agency Greenlight, believes the change could play havoc with an advertiser's quality score and long-tail keywords. "Given that 'long-tail' is becoming increasingly important with search queries, the cost per click Google can charge for long-tail keywords is significantly lower than on one or two keyword search queries," he says. "So, the more people search for long-tail search queries, the less money Google can charge the advertiser."

Search engine optimization (SEO) rankings should remain the same, but behavior may shift over time. In an email to MediaPost, Adam Bunn, head of search at Greenlight, adds that some Web sites may suffer a drop in traffic. Bunn believes Google Instant search could cause complications for rank-checking software and impact search demand results given by Google's keyword tools.

SEO Training Dojo David Harry says if anything Google Instant puts a premium on activities that SEOs contribute. This means that one must have a strong campaign based on keyword research driven by tighter data because there's really no point ranking in the No. 7 position or worse on 200 keywords. You're better off ranking between one and four on five terms, he says.

"Regardless of the drama sure to come our way with new changes, the SEO world has been adapting for many years now, Harry says. "As Google said during the press conference, 'SEOs will be fine. (we're) a smart bunch.'"