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Google Instant Spawns Other Instant Properties

Google Instant got a lot of attention when it was launched last week. But it also got a couple of people inspired, as there are now “Instant” offerings for two other Google properties — though neither one of them was put together by Google.

I read about Instant YouTube at VentureBeat. You can try it at http://ytinstant.com/. Apparently the guy who put it together, Feross Aboukhadijeh, got a YouTube job offer out of it. Good for him! Start typing, and YouTube Instant will guess your query and start playing a video. I started typing giraffe and it started with “Gummy Bear,” then went to “Girlfriend,” then guessed “Giraffe” on the third letter — and immediately showed me a video of two giraffes smacking the mess out of each other with their necks.

Like Google Instant, you can turn off the anticipated search by preceding the search with a +; searching for +gir gives you a highlight reel from Invader Zim.

Meanwhile, I read about Google Maps Instant at TechCrunch. Michael Hart (who’s lookin’ a job, Google, you listening?) has a site at http://hartlabs.net/instant_maps/. Start typing an address and Google Maps Instant will bop you all over the world as it tries to guess the address you’re looking for. I typed in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and I ended up in New York, Pennsylvania (multiple times), and even Australia. Google Maps Instant got it when I got to 1600 Penns.

I’m not sure how much “real life” use I would get out of this site but it sure is fun to play with. Just type in some random words. Did you know there was a “Groovy Way” in South Carolina? Oh, and look out for Ninja Trail in Mount Airy, North Carolina…

Update: As I finished this I saw an update on Twitter about another project from Michael Hart. Google Images Almost Instant is available at http://cdn.michaelhart.me/mh/instant_images/. Do NOT try the giraffe search with this one because this search is apparently not filtered and I really did not need to see that — the page updates with anticipated search for every letter you type. Actually I’m having a hard time finding examples that don’t give you at least some potentially objectionable content. Even an attempt to search for September gave me a page of septum piercings. Which, if you want to do that, is great, but I’m somewhat startled when confronted with a whole page of them. You’re on your own with this one. Be careful if you have sensitive eyeballs.

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