Google Inc. on Wednesday added a new feature to its search engine which can show results in real time as users type their search queries.
Named "Google Instant," the new feature can yield "a smarter and faster search that is interactive, predictive and powerful," Marissa Mayer, the company's vice president of search products and user experience, said in a blog post.
Users can get to the right content much faster than before because they don't have to finish typing their full search term or even press "search," according to Google.
Testing showed that Google Instant saves the average searcher two to five seconds per search, adding up to 11 hours saved every second if Google's worldwide users all switch to the new feature, Mayer noted.
"A lot of people think Google Instant is search as you type. It 's actually search before you type," she said at an event demonstrating the new feature held on Wednesday in San Francisco.
Google Instant will be first available to users in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and Britain, followed by more countries in coming weeks and months, the company said.