Display Google Search Results while you type in Firefox

Awesome Search, which I reviewed two days ago, is probably the best application when it comes to Firefox extensions that display Google search results while still typing the search phrase. I would go that far that it saves a lot of space on the main Firefox toolbar because the search form on the right is superfluous unless you like to search on other search engines using that search form on the right.

The extension is only available for Firefox 3 and the best Firefox 2 users can get at the moment is the extension Peers. Peers (which I discovered at Cybernet News) adds the same principle to the right search form. It displays the first seven Google or Yahoo search results beneath the entered search term in real time.

A left-click loads the search result in the active tab while a middle-click opens it in a new one. The right-click menu is not accessible in that form.

The number of search results that are displayed can be changed from 0-10 which is the same range for search engines that are displayed beneath the results and the amount of search suggestions. The maximum is therefor 30 items divided equally among suggestions, search results, and search engines.

The compact display has one disadvantage. If the websites displayed have long titles the url will not be fully displayed. I always check the url before I click it which makes Peers for my purposes not that practical. The author should probably consider using two lines to display the contents or use additional horizontal space if that is possible.

Peers is not compatible to Firefox 3 by default. If you follow the tip posted in my Awesome Search article you can make it compatible though.