"It's the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions," says a joint post from engineers Matt Cutts and Sitaram Iyer. "Web developers and power searchers might notice a few differences, so we're opening up a web developer preview to collect feedback."

In other words, the company aims to crawl the web, index it well, and deliver fast, relevant results - something it's always aimed to do. After a number of searches, it's clear Caffeine offers increased results in a shorter timeframe; however, how results appear remains a mystery.

From a consumer standpoint, Caffeine is identical to regular Google search save for shaving off a few precious half seconds. But for search engine marketers, the new indexing system adds another hurdle to their jobs. While it's likely that Google will have at least a month head start in outrunning them, in the past savvy keyword specialists have always managed to make their mark.

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