Does Google Instant Mean More Energy Use?

Salon.com (Sep 10 2010) Carbon Footprint

1. Google has long been conscientious about its energy use and carbon footprint. With the launch of Google Instant — the super fast, interactive new search feature — I couldn’t help but wonder if the search engine giant didn’t just crank up their energy use considerably. A Google spokesperson tells me the company doesn’t know yet whether Google Instant will consume more, less or the same amount of energy as the old search function. Well, first off, no doubt someone at Google knows the energy consumption difference between Google Instant and the previous search, because the company has to budget its energy bill. Energy usage isn’t something that’s hidden and emerges over time; it’s usually pretty clear what the addition of hardware and software will mean in terms of energy costs. According to last year’s research report from MIT, Carnegie Mellon and Akamai, Google spends over ... (Read Full Article)

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