• Fast Company, Friday, February 4, 2011 12:13 PM

Six months after its controversial debut, how if Google Instant fairing? According to Ben Gomes, the lead engineer on Google Instant, about 98% of consumers are using the feature, leaving just 2% who have opted out. "We've seen good results with Instant, even after launch," Gomes tells Fast Company. "We found [we have] have a very low opt-out rate." Not bad, considering that Instant was "one of the most radical makeovers of online search in years," in the opinion of the magazine.

The results-as-you-type search engine, which flashes answers to predicted queries with each key stroke did draw some initial criticism, but apparently not enough to scary away user. "We kept an opt-out, and in fact made it really prominent," says Gomes. Since Instant debuted, Google users are typing 5% fewer characters, and reaching results 10% faster than they were with traditional search. On average, users are seeing results about four-to-five seconds quicker than they were before the company introduced Instant.

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