Google has unveiled a new version of its search engine which it says will be faster and more accurate than ever before.

The upgrade, which insiders have dubbed “caffeine”, was announced on Monday after the company opened up access to web developers. It is intended to replace the technology giant’s main search engine after tests have been completed.

Although little about the surface appearance of the new version has changed, engineers promised that radical changes behind the scenes would vast improvements for ordinary users…

The company claims that significant changes to the way the system works will improve the experience for users – although it will also send shockwaves through the community of marketers who try and optimise their results to appear higher up in Google’s index…

Caffeine allows Google to index the web at a higher pace – gathering more information and doing it faster – but the company’s search quality specialist, Matt Cutts, rejected claims that it was developed in response to the actions of rivals.

“I love competition in search and want lots of it, but this change has been in the works for months,” he wrote on his blog. I think the best way for Google to do well in search is to continue what we’ve done for the last decade or so: focus relentlessly on pushing our search quality forward.”

Whether the upgrade will have a significant impact on Google’s business has yet to emerge, but Martin McNulty, director of search marketing specialist Trafficbroker, said that it could give it a significant boost.

“Google’s Caffeine is undoubtedly faster, almost twice as fast at times. It’s like a Google Gti,” he said.

Rock on, Google!

Quality always supersedes speed on my own desktop. Add new speed as an additional quality and a winner becomes harder to catch.