To do this, google is using some predictive search technologies to try and guess what it is you are looking for, they do this based on the most common searches for letters or words you are entering and as you add more, this narrows the results.

 

All this makes for some interesting questions surrounding search engine optimisation techniques and how google is changing the psychology of search.  At present its not known how this will effect the longer term search engine optimisation, but we think its fair to say there will be some impact.

 

The fact that Google's search is now predicting what you are looking for based on its own database of common searches means that there is a going to be a certain amount of positive reinforcement of common and popular searches.

 

Also, that Google is now showing you results before you even finish typing may lead to less precise searches or multiple re-typing of search terms being performed by users as they receive instant feedback from the search engine. Its not clear how this will effect user behaviour but we predict that users will simply keep re-keying their search terms until they can see the results they want rather settling on one search phrase and trawling through pages of results.  For some types of search this will have little or no impact but for others it could have more definite repercussions.

 

One interesting side effect is that it may make Google's search and ranking algorithms a little more transparent as it should be much easier to test returned results from given sets of keywords in various orders, etc.  Its also likely that Google will be factoring personalisation into returned results and the predictive search algorithm which could skew or bias results in uncertain ways.

 

At the moment its too early to tell how this will impact the Search Engine Optimisation world, but we're pretty sure there will be changes to users search behaviour as a result of this, and that may require an adaption of techniques given the much more predictive nature of the search interface.  The short story is that more data is required and many of us in the industry will be watching with interest to see how this turns out.