Have you tried Google Instant Search yet? Google has had this function active at google.com for some time now and I have to say I like it. Google Instant Search is when you see the results as you type in the search field.So before you’ve typed what you’re searching for the search result may already show up in the results below the search field. If the results you’re looking show up you can just continue to type and the results will change as you type.
As usual you get suggestions on keywords or phrases you can search for under the search field and if you select one of them you get to see that result immediately 😉
The downsides I can see with this are from a site owner perspective. If your site is getting traffic from long keywords you may see a decrease in traffic from Google since the users will get search results long before they have typed what they are looking for. As an example if you get traffic because you’re high ranking on make money from home, you may not benefit from this technology since Google will suggest make money online before the user has even typed make money:
The user will not only be suggested to search for make money online, but will also see search result for those keywords. This means that they may find something much more interesting then your site long before they’ve typed the keywords you rank high for. For some of you, you need to start re-branding your site before this goes live on all Google sites worldwide.
Another downside with this is the ads. If you’re an advertiser you don’t want your ad to flash before the eyes of your potential customers in just a few seconds. You want them to have enough time to at least read (or at least see) your ads. With Google this is not a big risk if you look to the cost since you only pay for click, but it may cause you to get less traffic.
From a searching perspective I just love this new feature since sometimes you don’t really know how many keywords you need to search for to find what you’re looking for. Now you can see the results while you’re typing and when you see something you want to check out you just stop typing.
Here’s a video explaining Google Instant Search:
