A. I have been referring to this feature in the Search Marketing classes I teach as "Keystroke Search" and it makes me smile when I watch the hyperactive updating on the page. It's fun and is far more useful as a search tool than static list results ever were/are. I believe the transition to this ultra-caffeinated format signals a significant company advancement, and a paradigm shift in the usefulness of search.
To the general user, it is a smooth way to dramatically extend the amount of time a standard visitor will remain on Google before clicking through. By increasing the value of each search result page, without requiring 'enter' to be clicked for each term, for value of each keystroke quickly becomes apparent.
Keystroke or Instant Search should increase, dramatically, the total amount of content a google user screens before leaving the site. A skilled instant search user, who finally does click through a link, represents a much higher quality lead/customer than was ever possible before the feature was introduced. Organically the new search feature provides a true benefit and reward to organizations that have devoted time to improve their content, resources and relevance of the presentation for their eventual customers/visitors.
Although some SEO pros might complain (what am I saying, might...), that the feature will cause a drop in click-through traffic volume, the true value of instant search is that the feature will eliminate a significant amount of irrelevant bounce-likely traffic. Although total visitor counts will drop for some, the relevance of the traffic that does reach the site should be dramatically improved. I believe the feature can help move the search industry into a more value-focused model for quantifying online audiences as opposed its current obsession with the total number of visitors as the primary determination of a website (or seo professional's) success.
