Google Instant (and me)

These days I'm on Paternity Leave, and thanks to Google's generosity as an employer, I get fully-paid 4 weeks at home with Shahar - a benefit unheard of in the Israeli market.

Combined with regular vacation and the September Jewish holidays I'll end up being absent from my workplace, and getting to know my new baby, which is certainly a luxury.

Rarely did I use this blog to write about professional matters. But there's a good reason for an exception now. I mentioned to some of you that the months leading to Shahar's birth were particularly hectic at work. Now I can fully explain why...

Last week Google officially launched Google Instant (showing search results with every letter you type).

I encourage you to try it out - it works only in www.google.com (not in www.google.co.il, or in the Toolbar search box etc.). You might find it weird at first, but I strongly believe that once you get used to it, you'll love it.

This complex project was obviously a huge effort inside Google, and the fruit of many many engineers working together. I'm very proud to say that my team, and myself personally, took an inherent role in driving this project to completion.

If you go to the launch event video, and jump to 49:30 minutes after its start, you'll even hear this explicitly. Prizes to those who would recognize my tiny photo among all the others there ;-)

Those of you who read Hebrew may also look at a relevant TheMarker article.

If you're a tech-geek (like me...), and are interested in some technical details, I recommend the ~10 minutes in that video, starting 37:40 minutes after its beginning.

Othar Hansson and Ben Gomes (with whom I work very closely) gave there what I think was an excellent explanation.

Cheers,

Giora