• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, September 8, 2010

With the unveiling of its latest search innovation Wednesday -- Google Instant -- Google promises to cut the length of each search by two to five seconds by predicting the topic and showing results before someone finishes typing. Think of it as a turbo-charged version of Google's predictive "suggested search" feature.

The accelerated search capability could be especially well-suited to mobile browsers, where Google plans to make Instant available later this fall, starting with the Android and iPhone platforms. Because search is typically more cumbersome on a mobile phone, with its smaller screen, anything that can speed up and simplify the process is better for users.

Google has already rolled out a number of features in the last year to enhance search -- specifically on mobile devices including Gesture Search -- for spelling out characters on a phone's touchscreen, Voice Actions, for speaking commands, and a new search history link that allows users to see items starred from Android, iPhone, or desktop searches.

Extending its dominance in search from the desktop to mobile devices is clearly a priority for Google, especially in light of the rise of applications as an information-finding alternative to browser-based search. Adding Google Instant to search should not only help Google solidify its leading position in mobile search but further bolster the proliferation of Android, which IDC predicts will become the second most common mobile platform worldwide after Symbian in the next four years.

In a closing keynote at the IFA consumer electronics event in Berlin this week, Google CEO Eric Schmidt highlighted some of the company's mobile search metrics. Some of the stats he ticked off included a 50% gain in mobile search traffic in the first half of 2010, that one in three queries from smartphones relates to location, and a quarter of Android-based searches in the U.S. are initiated by voice. He also reiterated that there are 200,000 Android activations daily.

Of course, the notion of doing anything "instantly" on the mobile Web requires putting quotes around the word in that context. Whether Google Instant actually works as well on mobile phones as on the desktop won't be clear until it comes out on mobile this fall.

And if you can't get a mobile Web connection in the first place because of spotty coverage, it doesn't matter how fast the search results spill out. But assuming Google Instant performs as billed, it should improve the user experience, and as a result, could help boost search volume.