Google and Speedy Search
September 10, 2010
I learned about Google’s push for speed in late 2009. I wrote a story for this blog called “Google 2010: Speed Becomes a Competitive Advantage.” Despite the enthusiasm of my two or three readers, no one cared. I know I didn’t. The Google of 2006 is long gone. In its place is a very different outfit.
I flipped through the write ups about the big Google event and its announcements today. I noted one as more in line with my thinking. Point your browser thingy at “Why Google Instant Is Good for Microsoft.” For me, the main point was:
In today’s press conference, Google boasted that only a “small percentage” of users in their tests turned off Instant search, and that they mainly did so because of connection issues. That seems an all-too rosy portrait of adoption rates. Clearly, there is a learning curve for such a novel service–after all, we’ve been clicking the “Search” button for more than a decade now. Doesn’t it seem unlikely that users would latch onto Google Instant so, well, instantly? Maybe in Google’s test-cases.
I know the search engine optimization boffins will be put in a tough spot. All the crap those folks have loaded into Web sites will hopefully disappear from personalized, on the fly search results. But the bigger point to me is that Google is making a change and assessing adaptability in terms of the Math Club ethos.
The Fast Company article nailed this point. Some folks don’t like math short cuts. I do like physics a lot. I also like relativity and what it suggests about speed.
Stephen E Arnold, September 10, 2010
Freebie.
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