Google Instant Search Is Dead And We Have Mobile To Thank

It has been nearly seven long years since Google rolled out Instant Search, a feature that irritated a bunch of users early on by presenting search result pages as a user typed their query. You've no doubt gotten used to Instant Search by this point (if you haven't disabled it entirely), but things are changing regardless: Google has killed the feature. You've likely already noticed the change, and you have the rise of mobile devices to thank for it.

Unlike in 2010 when Google launched Instant Search, the majority of queries are now performed using mobile devices, mostly smartphones. Instant search results aren't of any use in this case, making the feature less necessary than ever (not that it was ever necessary). Phones don't have the same screen real estate as laptops and desktops, and Instant wouldn't suit them regardless.

Speaking to Search Engine Land, a Google spokesperson confirmed the change and explained why the company has ditched the feature:

We launched Google Instant back in 2010 with the goal to provide users with the information they need as quickly as possible, even as they typed their searches on desktop devices. Since then, many more of our searches happen on mobile, with very different input and interaction and screen constraints. With this in mind, we have decided to remove Google Instant, so we can focus on ways to make Search even faster and more fluid on all devices.

Instant Search had aimed to provide users with results as quickly as possible, but many users saw no point for it, and indeed at times felt frustrated by its presence. The feature often pulled up search results for things you weren't actually searching for based on just the first-half of your search query, constantly changing the results as you continued to type.

Google's Instant Search results aren't to be confused with the search suggestions that drop down in the search box as a user types; those are search suggestions based on your own past searches and things other people search for, and they're remaining. The big change here is that a results page based on the search string won't load until you actually submit your query.