TEXT I
Google Instant promises live search results
by Maggie Shiels
Technology reporter,
BBC News, Silicon Valley
“Google has speeded up its internet search
engine by launching a product called Instant that
displays results as soon as users type in queries.
The service predicts a user's query and
modifies the displayed results as more letters are
typed into the search box.
The company described it as ‘search at the
speed of thought’.
Previously Google's suggested search terms
and did not reveal results until the ‘enter’ key was
hit or the ‘search’ button was clicked.
Google Instant goes live in the next week and on
mobile devices by autumn.
The service will initially be rolled out in the
US, UK, Spain, Germany, France and Russia.
Challenge to Microsoft?
In a demo event held at San Francisco's
Museum of Modern Art, Marissa Mayer, Google's
vice-president of search products and user
experience, typed in ‘sfm’ into the search box to
demonstrate the new service.
As she typed, results appeared instantly for
‘SF MOMA’ - the first predicted search result.
In another demo, when the letter ‘w’ was
entered, a list of links offering the ‘weather’
appeared along with images showing the
temperature.
‘We've actually predicting what query you
are likely to do and we're giving you results for
that,’ said Ms Mayer.
Google estimates that the typical user
spends nine seconds entering a query and 15
seconds looking for answers.
The company says Google Instant could
shave between two and five seconds off a typical
web search.
‘Google is betting all they have that speed is
everything,’ Harry McCracken of technology blog
Technologizer.com told the BBC.
‘Saving one or two seconds isn't that big of a
deal. One of my instant thoughts is that I am going
to see results I don't want because until I type
enough that it knows what I want, it is going to
show me links I am not interested in.’
Technology commentator Robert Scoble
said that the new feature would present a real
challenge to Microsoft search engine Bing, which
has been slowly chipping away at Google's lead in
the search market.
‘Playing with it, it dramatically changes the
way I do searches. I think it is a pretty major leap
forward but this means that Bing becomes far less
interesting and they now have to step up,’ said Mr.
Scoble.
Microsoft currently commands around 11%
of the US search market compared to Google's
66%, according to research firm Comscore.
Bing has gradually increased its market
share since launch, although its growth has
recently slowed.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newstechnology-11239037.
In the sentence, “I think it is a pretty major
leap forward but this means that Bing becomes far
less interesting and they now have to step up”, the
verb “to step up” would best be replaced by:
