{"id":15190,"date":"2010-09-14T17:54:57","date_gmt":"2010-09-14T12:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=15190"},"modified":"2026-10-15T13:03:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T07:33:41","slug":"best-instant-search-tools-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/09\/best-instant-search-tools-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Instant Search: The Best Tools of 2010 and Search-As-You-Type Today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Instant search<\/strong> means seeing results while you are still typing. In September 2010 it was the hottest trend on the web: within days of Google Instant, developers built instant versions of YouTube, Wikipedia, Twitter, Flickr and more. This article looks back at the best instant search tools of that moment and where you can still search as you type today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> The 2010 instant search tools were small fan-made apps built on public APIs, and nearly all of them are gone. Google itself switched off Google Instant in July 2017 because most searches had moved to mobile. Today you get search-as-you-type through autocomplete suggestions in Google, YouTube, Wikipedia and your computer&#8217;s own search, while site owners can add it with tools like Algolia or Meilisearch.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6add0d3306ac9\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6add0d3306ac9\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/09\/best-instant-search-tools-online\/#The_2010_instant_search_craze\" >The 2010 instant search craze<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/09\/best-instant-search-tools-online\/#What_happened_to_instant_search\" >What happened to instant search?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/09\/best-instant-search-tools-online\/#Where_to_get_instant_search_today\" >Where to get instant search today<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/09\/best-instant-search-tools-online\/#For_everyday_searching\" >For everyday searching<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/09\/best-instant-search-tools-online\/#For_website_owners\" >For website owners<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/09\/best-instant-search-tools-online\/#FAQ\" >FAQ<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/09\/best-instant-search-tools-online\/#What_is_instant_search\" >What is instant search?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/09\/best-instant-search-tools-online\/#Does_Google_still_have_instant_search\" >Does Google still have instant search?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/09\/best-instant-search-tools-online\/#Do_the_2010_instant_search_tools_still_work\" >Do the 2010 instant search tools still work?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/09\/best-instant-search-tools-online\/#How_can_I_add_instant_search_to_my_website\" >How can I add instant search to my website?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_2010_instant_search_craze\"><\/span>The 2010 instant search craze<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Instant searches looked like the future of search. Developers used public APIs to build instant versions of popular web services in a matter of days. Here were the best ones we found at the time:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Google Instant<\/strong>: the feature that started the whole instant search business, showing Google results as you typed. Read our original post on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/09\/google-instant-search-fastest-search-ever\/\">Google Instant<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>YouTube Instant<\/strong>: start typing and the best-matching YouTube video started playing. See the full story of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/09\/youtube-instant-fastest-way-to-watch-youtube-videos\/\">YouTube Instant<\/a>. Similar apps like Instatube listed the results quickly.<\/li>\n<li><strong>WikiInstant<\/strong>: type a term and the Wikipedia page for it opened straight away.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Twitter Instant<\/strong>: Twitter search results as you typed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Google Maps Instant<\/strong>: watch the location appear on the map as you typed an address.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Google Images Instant<\/strong>: images appeared before you finished your query.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Flickr Instant<\/strong>: browse Flickr photos as you typed a search term.<\/li>\n<li><strong>iTunes Instant<\/strong>: a web-based search engine for instant music results.<\/li>\n<li><strong>RSS Instant (Feediop)<\/strong>: an instant RSS browser that found blog feeds as you typed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>App Store Instant<\/strong>: instant search across the App Store for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad apps.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Instant Live Search<\/strong>: an instant search powered by the Bing API.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15134\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/youtube-instant.jpg\" alt=\"YouTube Instant search playing a video as the user types\" width=\"500\" height=\"307\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/youtube-instant.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/youtube-instant-150x92.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/youtube-instant-300x184.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15140\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/twitter-instant.jpg\" alt=\"Twitter Instant showing tweets as a search term is typed\" width=\"500\" height=\"238\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/twitter-instant.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/twitter-instant-150x71.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/twitter-instant-300x142.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_happened_to_instant_search\"><\/span>What happened to instant search?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Most of these tools were weekend projects that depended on free APIs. As those APIs changed or closed, the apps stopped working and quietly disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>Google Instant lasted longer, but in July 2017 Google removed it. A Google spokesperson told <a href=\"https:\/\/betanews.com\/2017\/07\/26\/google-instant-search-dies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BetaNews<\/a> that many more searches now happen on mobile, with very different input, interaction and screen constraints. Autocomplete suggestions stayed.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15143\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-instant-search.jpg\" alt=\"Instant image search showing pictures before the query is finished\" width=\"500\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-instant-search.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-instant-search-150x80.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-instant-search-300x160.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_to_get_instant_search_today\"><\/span>Where to get instant search today<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"For_everyday_searching\"><\/span>For everyday searching<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Google<\/strong><\/a>: autocomplete suggests queries as you type; pick one with the arrow keys to search.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>YouTube<\/strong><\/a>: suggestions appear as you type in the search box.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wikipedia.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Wikipedia<\/strong><\/a>: the search box suggests matching articles while you type.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Your computer&#8217;s search<\/strong>: Spotlight on Mac and Windows Search both show apps, files and settings as you type.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"For_website_owners\"><\/span>For website owners<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.algolia.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Algolia<\/strong><\/a>: a hosted search service popular for search-as-you-type on websites and stores.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.meilisearch.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Meilisearch<\/strong><\/a>: an open-source search engine designed for fast search-as-you-type results.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can also speed up your own searching from the browser bar by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/05\/site-search-google-chrome-search-engine\/\">adding site search to Chrome<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_instant_search\"><\/span>What is instant search?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Instant search shows results, not just suggestions, while you are still typing your query.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_Google_still_have_instant_search\"><\/span>Does Google still have instant search?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. Google removed Google Instant in July 2017 but kept autocomplete suggestions.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_the_2010_instant_search_tools_still_work\"><\/span>Do the 2010 instant search tools still work?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Almost none do. They relied on APIs that have since changed or closed.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_can_I_add_instant_search_to_my_website\"><\/span>How can I add instant search to my website?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Use a search service built for it, such as Algolia or the open-source Meilisearch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Instant search means seeing results while you are still typing. In September 2010 it was the hottest trend on the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":15143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-google"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15190"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66945,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15190\/revisions\/66945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}