Amazing move! Google's search service points increased 6 times in 10 months.

The latest research from the University of Southern California shows that in the past ten months, there has been a 600% increase in the number of locations providing Google search services. This change in the physical pattern of how the company delivers its search services was achieved through adjustments to existing infrastructure.

From October 2012 to the end of July 2013, the number of locations with Google search infrastructure increased from fewer than 200 to over 1400, and the number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) rose from 100 to more than 850.

This shift is primarily due to Google leveraging customer networks (such as Time Warner Cable) that already host content like YouTube videos on its behalf. These facilities are now being used to relay and accelerate user search and advertising requests.

Matt Calder, a Ph.D. student at the University of Southern California, said: "Google has been delivering YouTube videos from inside customer networks, but they've suddenly expanded their use of these networks, turning their content hosting infrastructure into search infrastructure."

In the past, if a user submitted a search request to Google, the request would be sent directly to a Google data center. Now, the search request first goes to a regional network before being forwarded to a Google data center. Although it might seem that adding this step could prolong the search time, in reality, this process actually speeds up the search.

Data connections typically need to "warm up" to reach peak speed — continuous connections between customer networks and Google data centers can eliminate the delay caused by this warm-up. Additionally, content can be divided into smaller data packets for transmission over the internet. Some of the delay users experience is due to occasional data packet loss, but using customer networks as an intermediary reduces the likelihood of packet loss and allows for faster replacement.