You can't say that Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is resting on its laurels.
The world's leading search engine has completed a new indexing platform that it claims will produce "50 percent fresher results" for web searches than before.
If this sounds like the kind of claim that you would find on a label as you stroll down the grocery store aisle, please don't squeeze the Google.
We live in times measured by tweets, so Big G is making sure that it delivers content as quick as possible after it's initially published. The new -- and presumably improved -- Google will be updating its global index in small chunks on a continuous basis. It will improve the updating efficiency of its previous layered approach.
So why is Google pushing for this now when its present platform is good enough to power the majority of this country's searches?
The new indexing system goes by the codename Caffeine, and maybe Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Bing was a caffeinated jolt last year. No, Bing isn't necessarily ahead of the curve when it comes to speedy indexing. The nascent search engine proved that even a vanilla bean brand in cyberspace can regain street cred and market share through a stylistic makeover and ambitious marketing strategy.
After all, we really don't know what AOL (NYSE: AOL) will do once its search deal with Google ends in December. Yahoo! may have seemed to have taken a step back in relevance when it inked a search deal with Microsoft, but the company's recent acquisitive streak is proof that it wants to remain a force to reckon with in cyberspace. IAC's (Nasdaq: IACI) Ask.com has gone through several makeovers in recent years.
If Microsoft made itself relevant again -- and there may no bigger endorsement than Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) Steve Jobs calling Bing "kinda cool" in introducing Bing's availability as a built-in search option on new iPhones -- what's to stop AOL, Yahoo!, Ask.com, or any other former dot-com darling from slugging it out with the big boys?
In theory, Google will want this to be a seamless transition. It likely hopes that users don't even realize that they're getting fresher results. However, deep down inside, Google wants to let everyone know that it's always on the move.
It has to be. Standing still is the easiest way to get caught from behind.
Should Google be tweaking with its search engine, or is it better to leave it alone? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
