Google Instant – when search results in 0.13 seconds just isn’t fast enough

Credit where credit is due, Google has certainly been clever in whipping up excitement for Wednesday’s announcement of Google Instant. On Monday, the Metrica office was full of delighted simpletons (like myself) who were amused by Google Balls. On Tuesday, we were all sad to see the balls go, but still intrigued by the silver Google logo. The excitement was nearly enough to rival Google’s Pac Man logo from a few months back (but not quite).

The big reveal came on Wednesday with the announcement of Google Instant. The Google site boasts that before Google Instant, the typical searcher took more than 9 seconds to enter a search term, with some taking between 30 and 90 seconds to type. By using Google Instant, you can save 2-5 seconds per search.

When I decided to write this blog, I did a search for ‘Metrica’ the old slow-poke way and I was reliably informed by Google that the search took 0.13 seconds. Of course, I didn’t factor in the time it took for me to type those seven letters, but regardless, it still felt pretty fast to me.

Tim’s week in social media last week discussed the launch of Apple’s Ping and highlighted that Google has not been as successful as hoped in entering the social media realm. So with Google Instant, it seems that Google is sticking to what it knows best. And though unsurprisingly Google Instant has drawn criticism for a variety of reasons, the launch was still a great example of ways to create excitement ahead of a big reveal.

Related posts

• The Friday PR and Social Media Cheat Sheet #025
• Day 4 at Social Media Week London – the psychology of online influence
• The Friday PR and Social Media Cheat Sheet #024
• The Friday PR and Social Media Cheat Sheet #021
• The Friday PR and Social Media Cheat Sheet #014