With Google Instant, the close link between the company's browser and search service is getting even closer--but Google wants to ensure that the Chrome-Google pairing isn't the only one possible on the Net.

If a proposal from the search giant catches on, browser users might, for example, be able to see Yahoo search results in Firefox--or more likely, Microsoft Bing search results instantly in Internet Explorer. The proposal, if accepted, holds the potential to help both Google and its rivals--at least if they can match the new Google Instant interface.

Google Instant shows search results as a person types, refreshing the window contents as the search terms are added or modified, and Google is building it into Chrome's omnibox. That's a significant expansion over existing browser abilities to suggest completed search terms using a drop-down list.

Google now is proposing an interface to let others link people's search box use with instant-search results.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20019864-264.html

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