One of the smart things in Instant for google with instant is positively impacting the Ad Impressions. (page load still not necessary - but ads refresh with the search results)
I won't be surprised if the idea sparked more as an effort for 'How do we increase ad impressions? ' than search assistance for user.
I won't be surprised if the idea sparked more as an effort for 'How do we increase ad impressions? ' than search assistance for user.