Google Testing Live Search Feature

Google

Google is said to be working on a new interface feature to allow you to search in “real time“. The system works off the search suggestion feature on Google. So, for example when you type a word, a pre populated text will display pertaining to similar words with those letters. It’s pretty similar to what you already see, but in real time. Google uses the term streaming; however we would call it incremental search. I can admit that the current suggest feature can sometimes be helpful and other times, it can be downright annoying.

The system will update the entire search results as you type a word or phrase. I suspect that this will dramatically affect existing sites, especially static sites that don’t update or add fresh content daily. New, invigorating sites would most likely climb to the top of the serps, while stagnant content would fall. I am not too fond of always seeing flash like pages, but that’s what we would pretty much be looking at on a daily basis if Google makes this a permanent feature. On the plus side, the content wouldn’t be from 1996, which is a good thing because we would want same day content, if possible.

Don’t get worked up just yet, this feature is in beta testing and has only been seen by a few select viewers. If interested in getting an idea of the functionality you may want to try a similar interface at “Google Alerts”. Google is said to be working on 50 to 200 new projects at any given time. Many never make it into production and dilapidate before the buzz starts circulating via the web. I have speculated for some time now that Google would do something dramatic to the serps and that would completely change SEO and how content is ranked in their advanced algorithm. I often think back to the days when Yahoo and other search engines were the forerunner in the virtual world. Creating new interfaces and pondering fresh ideas.

Unfortunately, companies are just sitting back and trying to follow Google’s lead. When that happens, consumers have to go along with the ride. What do you think about the beta search feature? Do you think it would help or cause more issues?