14 DAY TRIAL // Google is finally getting ready to take the big step and introduce the new Caffeine search back end to a wider audience with the goal of completely replacing the current architecture it uses. Revealed back in August, the project has been in testing in a dedicated sandbox since then, but the page is now replaced with the announcement that Caffeine is getting ready for the prime time.
“We appreciate all the feedback from people who searched on our Caffeine sandbox,” the page reads. “Based on the success we've seen, we believe Caffeine is ready for a larger audience. Soon we will activate Caffeine more widely, beginning with one data center. This sandbox is no longer necessary and has been retired, but we appreciate the testing and positive input that webmasters and publishers have given.”
Caffeine is a complete overhaul of Google's search infrastructure and has been a big project for the company. The changes are internal, the new technology scales better and is faster, but they also affect the way Google ranks the search results. For the users, the effects will be subtle but far-reaching and webmasters should be prepared for the new search engine as it goes live, which is now likely to be very soon.
Google hasn't made any other type of announcement, but it does look like it's satisfied with the results of the sandbox testing phase. It is also clear that the technology is mature enough to be integrated into the main search engine and that Google has already begun to do so, deploying it at one data center.
While Google is constantly tweaking and upgrading its products, it usually involves small updates and an iterative process and the search engine is no exception. So, the fact that Google has now created a completely new infrastructure to replace the old one for its main product and its main bread earner means that the company has put a lot of effort and consideration into this.