Google recently launched its new search engine “Caffeine,” promising to provide 50% fresher results.

In the old system, Google’s searches would span the entire Web to update its own index, which it then searched. There was a delay between when Google found a page and made it available to the user because of this method, but now (with Caffeine, allegedly) Google will be searching the Web is smaller portions and continuously updating its indexes. This article outlines the technical aspects quite well – better than we could.

But what I want to know is: what will this new high-tech searching platform mean for online retailers? Will this result in retailers seeing better, more targeted searches from their potential customers? How could this new technology affect your conversion rates? What do you see as the biggest hurdle to getting your customer from the point where they initially find you in a Google search to the point where they’re clicking the check out button?

If you’re a tech-savvy online retailer – I want to hear from you!

And while we’re at it…what about Bing? How has/will that affect your business? Does the search engine the customer uses really matter or is it really all about how determined s/he to find your product in the first place?