For the fans of the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button, you likely will not use it anymore.  In the habit of hitting the ‘enter’ button after you type a search query?  Break this one, because it is no longer necessary. After months of testing, and weeks of hype and speculation, Google has revealed Google Instant, the newest change to the way that we search: live updating search results.

Google Instant attempts to improve the user experience even more:  by saving time, providing smarter predictions and serving instant results.  Google estimates that Instant will save 11 hours of search time for every second spent searching.  With the combination of time savings, and more accurate search results, Google is certainly staking their claim as the most forward-thinking company in search.

Google’s announcement this morning began with some amazing statistics: over 1 Billion searches occur on Google each week.  In these 1 Billion searches, it takes more than 9 seconds to enter a search term, with many searches taking 30 to 90 seconds.  Google Instant promises to save 2-5 seconds per search, as well as decrease the time it takes a user to click on a search result as well.

How does it work?  As you type in your search query, the search results will adjust based on what you Google Instant searches for you as you type, predicting the most likely keywords that you will search.  Once you see results that match what you are looking for, simply stop typing.  Your results are already there.

Here, we began a search for ‘woodpecker’ to show the results that we got along the way:

How Will Google Instant Impact Paid Search?

One of the largest concerns about Google Instant for B2B Advertisers is how this new tool will impact paid search.  Specifically, the impact on ad impressions.  As users type in a query, the search results rapidly change, displaying different ads with every keystroke.    As shown in our search for ‘woodpecker’ we returned paid advertisements for MapQuest, the Pacific Science Center, the Woodland Park Zoo and more, before we finally got to information about woodpeckers.

According to Google, an ad impression is counted if a user takes an action to choose a query (for example, presses the Enter key or clicks the Search button), clicks a link on the results page, or stops typing for three or more seconds.

Ad Position

Google Instant will also change the layout of the Google search results pages.  Because the search suggestions box remains open, the organic results, as well as any top position ads, are pushed down the page.   In some cases, the organic results are pushed completely below the fold, and users will only see the search suggestions box, as well as paid advertisements.

Though this will initially increase impressions and clicks on paid search campaigns, the quality of the clicks received is not likely to improve.  With organic results beginning far below the fold, many users will confuse paid and organic searches- resulting in low quality clicks on top performing ads. Paid ads in position 1 and 2 will likely show above the organic search results, but below the search suggestions box. Ads in lower positions (particularly positions 3, 4 and 5) appear to have a higher rank because the paid search results on the right side begin at the top of the page.

Quality Score

With increased impressions due to the ever changing search results pages, paid search marketers can expect to see a decline in their click through rate (CTR)- simply due to this increase in impressions.  Because CTR is one of the main components of quality score, B2B Advertisers may see a change in the overall competitive landscape of paid search.  Will quality scores begin to decline because of Google Instant?  At this point, we can just wait and see.