News Chrome to prerender search result pages

Google Instant Page pre-loads top pages in your search results when it thinks you'll click on them.

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/2011/06/15/chrome-instant-page-prerender-search-result/1

 

Other than performance on low powered devices, this also isn't great for bandwidth usage on terrible internet plans (think costs of 3/4G data in most countries). I think as long as it's optional it's a good idea.

 

There are, I think, two issues here. First is that it has the potential to chew bandwidth, which is fine on an all you can eat tariff or, relaistically, pretty much any home broadband connection where the incremental data use is likely to be negligible, but unattractive for pay as you go or capped mobile internet and ESPECIALLY for roaming. Secondly, it means your browser will register hits on sites you might not want it to (which has privacy implications) and might not actually visit (which may skew their traffic stats). As long as it's optional, however, and it only prerenders first party HTML and images, not flash and not third party content, I don't see why it's a problem.

 

Maybe they should first fix their results to actually pertain to my search...

 

They have been preloading data for ages, although I dont know what exactly it is they where preloading. However I guess they are now preloading and prerendering the data.

 

Realistically if it's just pre-rendering the HTML and not pulling down large images / flash / java content then bandwidth wise it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Definitely would want a switch on it though. Maybe they could use ISP detection to i.d. which connections they should run it down automatically. Don't do it on 3, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile, O2 (if they can split the home and mobile traffic), AT&T, Verizon etc etc. And then put it on by default for desktop browsers for other ISP's. Either way I'd have it disabled by default for Mobile Google, but with the option to switch it on, it would probably help page loading quite a lot on more CPU bound mobile phones

 

Wouldn't caching the page pretty much do the same thing? and what happens if you search for something and there's a new page that might be relevant to your needs, but you don't see it because Google says so?

 

Until it uses aero. Not interested.

 

But where's the speedup on that?

Another nice plan by people to whom bandwidth is not a problem.
Preload stuff you may not need, plaster everything in the cloud...no problem on the T1 connection back at google HQ.

As the trend (imho) is going towards mobile internet, bandwith is:
either a problem or
a serious cost factor