| As you type in the search box on Google Web Search , Google 's autocomplete algorithm offers searches that might be similar to the one you 're typing . Start to type [ new york ] -- even just [ new y ] -- and you 'll be able to pick searches for New York City , New York Times , and New York University ( to name just a few ) . Why it 's helpful Rest your fingers . The algorithm predicts search queries in real-time , so typing [ golden gate b ] and then clicking 'golden gate bridge ' is faster and easier than typing it out . Catch a mistake . Did you mean : Melbourne Australia ? Start searching for [ melborn ] and Google 's algorithm will present more common spellings for what you might be trying to find . Repeat a favorite search . If you 're signed in to your Google Account and have Web History enabled , the algorithm may show some predicted queries based on searches that you 've done in the past . Data that you send to Google is protected by Google 's privacy policy . Find other useful information . Even if you 've disabled Google Instant , there are some features in autocomplete to connect you immediately with the information you 're looking for . For example , if you type [ weather brus ] you may see the current weather in Brussels , Belgium , described right in the list of search terms . This also works for flight status , local time zones , area codes , package tracking , certain answers , definitions , calculations , plus currency and unit conversions . How autocomplete works As you type , Google 's algorithm predicts and displays search queries based on other users ' search activities . In addition , if you 're signed in to your Google Account and have Web History enabled , you may see search queries from relevant searches that you 've done in the past . All of the predicted queries that are shown in the drop-down list have been typed previously by Google users . For certain queries , Google will show separate predictions for just the last few words . Below the word that you 're typing in the search box , you 'll see a smaller drop-down list containing predictions based only on the last words of your query . While each prediction shown in the drop-down list has been typed before by Google users , the combination of your primary text along with the completion may be unique . Predicted queries are algorithmically determined based on a number of purely objective factors ( including popularity of search terms ) without human intervention . The autocomplete data is updated frequently to offer fresh and rising search queries . Does Google exclude any users ' searches from autocomplete ? The search queries that you see as part of autocomplete are a reflection of the search activity of all web users . Just like the web , the search queries presented may include silly or strange or surprising terms and phrases . While we always strive to neutrally and objectively reflect the diversity of content on the web ( some good , some objectionable ) , we also apply a narrow set of removal policies for pornography , violence , hate speech , and terms that are frequently used to find content that infringes copyrights . Why do some of the searches seem so strange ? In some cases , there may be a search term that seems surprising to you , but after doing some searching on the web , you may discover that it 's a popular phrase online for some reason that you did n't anticipate . Queries in autocomplete are algorithmically determined based on a number of objective factors ( including search term popularity ) without manual intervention . Why do n't I see any predictions for a particular topic ? If no predicted searches appear for a particular word or topic , it 's likely due to one of the following reasons : The search term is not popular enough . Queries that are n't popular are less likely to be useful in autocomplete . A minimum algorithmic threshold for popularity helps us fight spam and improves the likelihood that the search queries you do see are relevant to your search . We also make regionally appropriate adjustments to autocomplete , so the predicted queries that you see on Google Australia ( google . com . au ) or Google France ( google . fr ) may be different from those you see on Google . com . The search term is too fresh . It can take some time for newly popular search terms to consistently appear in autocomplete . While you 'll usually be able to discover new queries within an hour , it can sometimes take a few days to a few weeks for recently popular search queries to start appearing in autocomplete . The search term violates our autocomplete policies . We aim to provide you with relevant search queries , but we exclude a narrow class of search queries related to pornography , violence , hate speech , and copyright infringement . The search term was mistaken for a policy violation . Our policy review process is neither perfect nor instantaneous . There might be occasions where the system aims to exclude a query in one language that would be perfectly fine in another language . For example , we might inadvertently exclude a compound word because it includes a translation of a bad word from another language . Control personalized predictions If you do n't want to see search queries based on your web history , you can control how personalized autocomplete works . Here are your options : Sign out of your Google Account while you search on Google . If you are n't signed in to a Google Account , your search experience may be customized based on past search information linked to a cookie on your browser . Learn how to turn off these customizations . Remove particular searches from your Web History at www . google . com/history or by clicking the " Remove " links that appear beside personalized predictions . Remove Web History from your Google Account . Ask a question or report a problem with autocomplete If you see a problem with the predictions in autocomplete , it 's probably caused by one of the scenarios described above and we are already working to address it . If you have feedback or questions about autocomplete , you can post them in the Google Web Search Help Forum . |