How Google evolved from static to Real time

If anyone had doubts about Google loosing out on search with Bings new strategy and all, think again Google has done something really special with making its search real time by associating with twitter and Facebook and some other social networking sites.

It is seen that across the world people have started to think that Google as a little slow. Yes the same search engine that spits out tens of millions of results in under half a second. But most of those are from established websites with largely static content. Even news sites take a few minutes to filter through into the results.

As the whole world is going ga ga over Twitter, which on the other hand, can tell you what's happening right now - this second - around the globe. And that information comes right from the people who are actually experiencing the events - often via their cellphones and tweeting them across the world, and that is the power of twitter and in just three years of existence Twitter has successfully become the pulse of the internet.

But then something special is happening as twitter never pays to underestimate Google. On December 7 they began rolling out "real time search". Now, when you search for something, you won't only see static pages - you'll see live, up to the second, conversations.

Unbelievalble, believe it and just go on and watch the video here and this will change the whole scenario for Google in the coming days.

Think of the possibilities: you'd like to visit a nearby beach or dam for a bit of exercise but you want to know what the conditions are like right now. Before you might phone a friend on the off chance they are nearby. Now you'll be able to search for "conditions near goa beaches" or "weather at Kulu manali" and hear it from people who've just come out of the beach or from that place.

And if you are trying to decide on which TV to buy, so you Google it and you see professional reviews alongside a guy complaining, 10 seconds ago, about how his model is giving problems.

Though this real time search is not yet released in India but in other parts of the world its  already happening. And example from a popular blog said like "Try it for yourself. Search for "tiger woods" - scroll down a little until you see "Latest results" and wait a few seconds. Yes, right now it's mainly bad jokes about the unfortunate Mr Woods, but imagine you were searching for a natural disaster that just hit, or a giant rock concert."

And Google aren't just indexing Twitter (though they dominate the results), they've also made deals with Facebook, MySpace, and many others - all of these services that let people share their thoughts with the web in real time, and all of which support updates via cell phones.

These services have effectively turned their users into channels, beaming out updates from around the planet. Where before we had millions of channels, now we have (potentially) billions.

If the thought of trawling through billions of channels busily broadcasting their eating habits or bowel movements horrifies you, then have no fear. Google and competitors like Bing and Yahoo have made a $300-billion-a-year business out of doing that trawling for you.

All the nascent real-time revolution has done is raise the bar at the moment. I am willing to bet there are some pretty awkward expressions around the Bing and Yahoo offices at the moment.

But what's most significant here is the gradual shift that is happening in the nature of the internet. It's a shift from what has happened from history - to what is happening at the present.

It will take a while before we come to terms with the implications of that change, but one thing is certain everything we know about the web is about to be rewritten, and that too in real time.