Stanford student creates YouTube Instant, gets job offer from YouTube CEO

Stanford student Feross Aboukhadijeh, in a nod to the recent unveiling of Google Instant, has created a real-time search engine for YouTube videos — and it’s caught the attention of YouTube CEO Chad Hurley.

After spotting YouTube Instant, Hurley Tweeted over to Aboukhadijeh, saying he loved the idea and asking if he wanted a job.

Aboukhadijeh, who goes by the Twitter handle FreeTheFeross, sent a message back to find out if Hurley was serious about … Continue Reading

Is Google still feeling lucky? (video)

It’s hard to be as big as Google and still be fun. One bit of the search engine’s late-’90s whimsy that has survived to this day is the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button, which instantly takes users to the first search result for a query, with no intervening pages or ads.

Some are now asking if the new Google Instant search, which whisks people straight to a search-results page, meant the button had run out of … Continue Reading

Google Instant: a fundamental shift in search

Google is already one of the fastest search engines on the planet — but apparently that isn’t fast enough.

Marissa Mayer, Google’s top search executive, announced a “fundamental shift” in how search operates with the launch of Google Instant at a press event in San Francisco Wednesday morning.

Google Instant still looks like the search engine’s home page people are accustomed to, but the results begin streaming in real time as a user starts typing … Continue Reading

Google CEO: "Fast is about to get faster"

A cryptic Tweet by Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt might hold some clues as to what to expect from today’s Google presentation in San Francisco.

Schmidt announced yesterday that Google was going to make a push into automated searches that dynamically provide results of what readers might want to see, not just what they are searching for. Based on Schmidt’s Tweet, it’s possible the announcement by Google today in San Francisco will just be a rehash … Continue Reading

Google's new search mantra: "Did you know?"

Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that the future of search was blazing-fast, “autonomous” searching that constantly provides users with results. He made the comments at a keynote speech at the German IFA home electronics event in Berlin Tuesday.

But autonomous search isn’t really search as we think of it — a user querying a massive database to get a result. Schmidt likened it to telling a user what he or she didn’t know, but was … Continue Reading