Just as Facebook announces internal search for public notes, Google counters with an effort to improve on its existing services. In today’s blog post, the company unveiled its new Caffeine search infrastructure to web developers. The question is, will Caffeine enhance performance or lead to user anxiety?
“It’s the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions,” says a joint post from engineers Matt Cutts and Sitaram Iyer. “Web developers and power searchers might notice a few differences, so we’re opening up a web developer preview to collect feedback.”
In other words, the company aims to crawl the web, index it well, and deliver fast, relevant results – something it’s always aimed to do. After a number of searches, it’s clear Caffeine offers increased results in a shorter timeframe; however, how results appear remains a mystery.
From a consumer standpoint, Caffeine is identical to regular Google search save for shaving off a few precious half seconds. But for search engine marketers, the new indexing system adds another hurdle to their jobs. While it’s likely that Google will have at least a month head start in outrunning them, in the past savvy keyword specialists have always managed to make their mark.
To help improve Caffeine, search in the sandbox and click the “Dissatisfied? Help us improve” link to offer feedback.
