Search as you type
How do you feel when a list of search terms is shown as you start typing for something in the search box? Very nice isn’t it? Yes, this idea has caught the search engine giants. Yahoo and Google have their own instant searches named Yahoo instant search and Google suggest.
Yahoo Instant search: Yahoo instant search finds the most common search result and displays it as you type your search. For example just by typing “bill” we get the top most relevant search result i.e. bill gates.
Google Suggest: Google Suggest detects the popular search terms and displays list of search queries so that you can select the one you want from the drop down menu. This could be handy when you want to find the popular keywords related to a particular topic. [Note: Google Toolbar for Firefox 2.0 has keyword suggestion feature integrated automatically]
There is a difference between Google suggest and Yahoo instant search. While Yahoo Instant Search shows only the most popular search result all the other results are not shown. Sometimes the person may need a lesser relevant result. This is not the case with Google suggest where a list of popular searches are shown in a drop down menu, and the user has the option of selecting the appropriate result.
Occasionally instant search may be irritating but it’s really cool idea to see the results as we start typing in, most of the time.
Read Google Suggest’s FAQ | Yahoo Instant Search FAQ