Google Instant Good or bad?

[Vistz 1]

If you don't already know, I'm referring to the Google feature where when you type something into Google, the results show up immediately, even without you pressing "Enter". Google Instant has been out for awhile but I want to share my opinion on it anyway.I find this feature annoying because I don't want every search result for the first few characters I type. If I wanted this, I could have just stayed with the old style of searching (hitting Enter). Also, if you stayed with the old style, you would still be getting possible search strings in the drop down box.But on another note, wow. Just wow. I'm really impressed that Google managed to pull this off. And so efficiently too. Bringing up a new page of results for every few (maybe every single) character you type? Then again, it is Google we're talking about. Efficiency is their game so I guess I shouldn't be too impressed. But still.This brings me to my final point. For those of you who have slow connections, Google Instant is going to be a pain to use. As for me, I'm running Ubuntu and for some strange reason, the CPU throttles 15-20 minutes after any sort of CPU intensive process, i.e. watching a video. Because of this, after a few minutes of using Google Instant, my computer slows to a crawl. That's one of the main reasons I decided to stay with the old style of searching.But that's just me. How about you guys? Any good/bad experiences with Google Instant?

[Harlot 2]

I think the feature is annoying also, I don't understand why it is the default. I hate results popping up and lagging the search while I am trying to use Google. Another thing is that most people know what they are going to search when they go on Google, so there is no point of showing premature results. I don't want results for half of a word popping up or half of a phrase. It is just completely and utterly annoying rather than beneficial or innovative. It seems that some people like the feature, but I really don't understand why. I guess they like the idea that ajax is being more widely used on mainstream websites now a days. I think I like the normal google better. However, that is not it, I hate the new google images also. I think it was better the old way, although I am getting use to the new version of it. A lot of the images do not even appear when you scroll don because there are too many images loading at once. Instead of loading one page at a time you have about 10 pages loading as once and more loading as you scroll down. Its not something that I think is good in most cases. I guess there are different strokes for different folks though, because I have heard most people praise the new features on google, both the ajax search and the new image page.

[mahesh2k 0]

I think the feature is annoying also, I don't understand why it is the default.

True. It is active by default and for slow internet connection users it gives no results even after pressing enter many times. I have this issue and i switched to classical version by turning off. For regional google search the results quality is such low that i'm considering to use bing for my local search. I think google is overdoing it by adding every piece of AJAX and keywords in their results.

[vhortex 1]

I don't have this feature, does it shows as default when you browse and do the search while logged in to google accounts? Since google unified its logged in and I keep my email or my analytic open, I always appear logged in.

[Vistz 1]

I don't have this feature, does it shows as default when you browse and do the search while logged in to google accounts? Since google unified its logged in and I keep my email or my analytic open, I always appear logged in.

I'm not sure if this applies to you but for slower connections, Google has set the old style of searching as the default. But for faster connections that can handle the AJAX, they replaced it with Google Instant.

[vhortex 1]

I'm not sure if this applies to you but for slower connections, Google has set the old style of searching as the default. But for faster connections that can handle the AJAX, they replaced it with Google Instant.

My connection is mid way and I can watch HD videos without problem so I guess that is not the issue. Maybe it is activated on selected geo zones. Is it possible to deactivate the feature using google account? I will hate that one when I do my searches.

Google Instant was introduced in France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, Russia, and Italy, not only in the United States of America

It is geo-targeted and I don't belong on those countries.
Edited October 29, 2010 by vhortex (see edit history)

[mahesh2k 0]

It is activated for many asian countries. Atleast it is active for india, and i'm experiencing very big lag because of this. I don't like instant results which are vague for my search queries. Besides for many keywords i'm getting google's service as default search result. Maybe this setting needs to change, hope they improve instant instead of slapping it on every users.

[vhortex 1]

It is activated for many asian countries. Atleast it is active for india, and i'm experiencing very big lag because of this. I don't like instant results which are vague for my search queries. Besides for many keywords i'm getting google's service as default search result. Maybe this setting needs to change, hope they improve instant instead of slapping it on every users.

I do hope they fix that with a timer on when to perform the searches, I say an instant ajax search system that gives 5-20seconds timeout between keystrokes. If the timeout was reached, only then the ajax code will fire and do the result without waiting for you "Enter key". Good thing is that we don't have that feature yet, we still have enough time to watch and see how the world will react.

[Vistz 1]

My connection is mid way and I can watch HD videos without problem so I guess that is not the issue. Maybe it is activated on selected geo zones. Is it possible to deactivate the feature using google account? I will hate that one when I do my searches.

I may be mistaken but I think I read somewhere that if you are logged into your Gmail account, you should be able to use Google Instant. If this is the case, then there should be a toggle that allows you to turn on/off Google Instant.

[Quatrux 4]

To answer most of your questions:

 

Q: Can I turn off Google Instant?

A: If you don't want to see results as you type, you can turn off Google Instant by clicking the link next to the search box on any search results page, or by visiting your Preferences page.

 

Q: Where is Google Instant available?

A: Google Instant is starting to roll-out to users on Google domains in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Russia who use the following browsers: Chrome v5/6, Firefox v3, Safari v5 for Mac and Internet Explorer v8. Please note, users on domains other than Google.com can only access Google Instant if they are signed in to a Google Account. We will continue to add new domains and languages over the next several months.

 

Q: Will Google Instant slow my Internet connection?

A: We anticipate that Google Instant will not slow your Internet connection, and we plan to automatically turn it off for very slow connections. Even though we are serving more results pages, the additional load this enhancement creates is very small when compared to other types of web services such as streaming video and online gaming. We've also worked hard to minimize the amount of data that is sent and received during the search process. For example, when rendering new results as you type, we only send the parts of the page that change, without updating the static elements, such as a the page frame around the results.

 

The link to the Preferences section is here: https://www.google.com/preferences

 

For me it seems it's not available, I couldn't see the benefits of it, even though it sounds promising, but it works for people who have faster connections.

[mahesh2k 0]

I do hope they fix that with a timer on when to perform the searches, I say an instant ajax search system that gives 5-20seconds timeout between keystrokes. If the timeout was reached, only then the ajax code will fire and do the result without waiting for you "Enter key". Good thing is that we don't have that feature yet, we still have enough time to watch and see how the world will react.

Yes i would like that feature to get implemented. They have said that in FAQ as pointed out by quatrux. So i guess there will be change in new version of the instant. Some of my friends don't like this new search feature at all. They think that type and get results is hasty attempt by google to see what surfer is typing and want to search.

[vhortex 1]

A: Google Instant is starting to roll-out to users on Google domains in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Russia who use the following browsers: Chrome v5/6, Firefox v3, Safari v5 for Mac and Internet Explorer v8. Please note, users on domains other than Google.com can only access Google Instant if they are signed in to a Google Account. We will continue to add new domains and languages over the next several months.

I remembered something like that, Gmail asked if I want to activate google instant if it comes on my region which I clicked "Yes".

Update: I opened Gmail and Clicked settings then click web, it brings me to google and my google account search settings, after 2minutes a button that says "use google instant" appeared (this never appeared before if I go directly to google search signed in).

It works good for me and have no interference on my side, CPU usage never even budge to 1% more and the memory usage stays the same. I only hate the "flicker" like effect of fast search result changes. It looks like the missing piece of the puzzle is to active the button via my Gmail since that is the first place where I get the notification 2 months ago.

The Ajax fire on "keyup" event. That will be so annoying to most people.
Edited October 31, 2010 by vhortex (see edit history)

[Illustrious 0]

At first, I thought that the feature was really annoying. After a few days of using Google Instant, I learned to actually start using the feature. There are some cases when I find the feature annoying and I turn it off but at most times, I do not mind having it enabled.

[Vistz 1]

At first, I thought that the feature was really annoying. After a few days of using Google Instant, I learned to actually start using the feature. There are some cases when I find the feature annoying and I turn it off but at most times, I do not mind having it enabled.

The same goes for me. I still have some problems with it when my computer lags. But other than that, I feel accustomed to using it.

[mahesh2k 0]

Well AJAX based instant search is annoying as it gives some lag. And on firefox you'll get memory leaks every now and then. You may try using it with chrome or opera. It rarely lags with these browsers. But sometimes it annoys when you want to complete the query. I just like the old enter when completed with query way.