The event stats at 12:30 ET. I’ll be updating live.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElubRNRIUg4&w=600&h=375]
Google announced an anticipated new search service, Google Instant, today. The service which will rapidly replace Google’s default search engine and update the page as you type. Some initial thoughts:
– Google will now serve an order of magnitude more ads but most companies only pay for clicks so there won’t necessarily be a growth in clicks/revenue.
– Most people now search with the browser bar, rather than Google.com. Google mentioned that they are working on a solution for this that will be coming in the months ahead. I expect Chrome will be the first browser to get this functionality in the browser bar.
– For people who don’t have unlimited bandwidth, ‘Instant’ uses a little more bandwidth and will cost a little more. Metered users may choose to take this off, especially if using expensive mobile bandwidth.
– Some users, at least initially, won’t want this because of distraction. There is a switch that allows you to turn it off. Usually connection speed issues kept people from using it.
– The expectation (like the Weather illustrated below) is that shortcuts will become the norm. Interestingly, companies that have short stock tickers like AT&T (T), Sprint(S) are going to get a lot more eyeballs.
– Mobile will be coming in the coming months. It will be interesting to see how it is worked into Android (separate app?) and other platforms like iOS and BlackBerry.
Archived live info below:
You can get the local weather with one ‘w’ keystroke:
Google Instant! CNN has posted the story.
12:40: Marissa Mayer is talking background.
Google Live Search will save 2-5 seconds per search. Multiply that over 1 billion searches/week.
That saves a thousand man-years of time every week. Or 11 hours every second.
The product is called “Google Instant“.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx4llLXZVSk&w=600&h=375]
See previous coverage here and here. Below is what Google’s YouTube feed site is now showing. I have a feeling that this announcement pertains to this:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty71OxyQKKc&hd=1&w=600&h=430]
9:30 I’ve talked to a few people who are already getting live search results. Anyone?
The video is here.
