Chron.com | Google quietly builds sprawling data center

"Google has found that for search engines, every millisecond longer it takes to give users their results leads to lower satisfaction. "

Today's news story about Google focuses on its new data center being developed in The Dalles on the banks of the Columbia River. The line that caught my attention in this story refers to the emphasis that Google places on speed. This is relevant for web developers, because Google is extremely sensitive to speed, and considers load time an important part of its ranking algorithm.

Consider that Google observes differences in user satisfaction based on milliseconds. I often hear the comment that load time is no longer as important as it used to be because of the spread of broadband access throughout the Internet community. This comment in this article directly refutes that position.

When thinking about the value of reducing the load time on your web site, remember the sports metaphor. In the Olympics, and in any other speed competition, the difference between the winners time and the absolute last entry in the event is often only a matter of seconds. The difference between first place and second, third, or fourth place is more often only milliseconds. On the web, you are competing for rank, so milliseconds could determine your rank. How much effort is that worth to you?