Google (GOOG) will upgrade the way it performs searches for users by showing them results as they type in the search box.

The new feature, called Google Instant, will start showing results as the letters come in. If you were to search for "Sleeping Beauty," for instance, you'd start to see results with the first "S" -- and the list would change with each letter added (You can try it here).

The idea is to shave just a few seconds off of the typical search query. Google says that it takes people 9 seconds to type in a search and 15 seconds to pick a result, according to VentureBeat. This new way of showing results could cut that process by up to 5 seconds.

Google Instant also shows you more advertising. That's because the ads also appear and change as the search request is typed in. Could the possibility of showing three to four times as many ads also be a motivation here?

Google says the new search will save all its users more than 3.5 billion seconds a day.

Google Instant will start appearing in most browsers today, and will go international over the next week. But phones and other mobile gadgets won't see it until later this year.