Google's live search results is just a test

Google - tries stuff, you know.
Google - tries stuff, you know.

Google has responded to the video of one of its search experiments, which shows results appear as a person types, insisting it is just one of a number of trials.

An unofficial video has surfaced that shows what appears to be the next step in Google Suggest but rather than offering you what you might be searching for as you type this actually shows you the likely results.

But Google has quickly moved to say that this is just one of a number of experiments going on, and consumers should not necessarily expect this to be a change rolled into Google's main search engine.

"At any given time we are running between 50-200 search experiments," a spokesman told TechRadar.

Trials and tribulations

Google has spoken in the past about the way in which it trials changes, recently telling TechRadar how its popular Google Labs scheme allows the public to peek behind the curtain.

Back in 2006, VP Mariss Mayer blogged about the search experiments saying: "From time to time, we run live experiments on Google - tests visible to a relatively few people - to discover better ways to search.

"We do this because there's no good substitute for understanding how real people, in real-world situations, actually operate.

"Theories are fine, but 'improving the user experience' really happens best when we understand what people do online."

Still, it's quite a cool looking search experiment, and you can see it in action in the video below.

Patrick Goss

Patrick Goss is the ex-Editor in Chief of TechRadar. Patrick was a passionate and experienced journalist, and he has been lucky enough to work on some of the finest online properties on the planet, building audiences everywhere and establishing himself at the forefront of digital content.  After a long stint as the boss at TechRadar, Patrick has now moved on to a role with Apple, where he is the Managing Editor for the App Store in the UK.