Google Suggest , now in Beta, provides real time suggestions for the keywords you search for, in the form of a drop down box under the search box. Not only does it provide words that get typed in regularly that are close to or related to your search term, it shows you the number of results in the Google engine, giving you a fair idea of the popularity of that term. I can see this easily becoming the next Overture Keyword Selector Tool, specifically targetting the coveted Google audience.

Any thoughts on this?

This thing is great. Just spent about 2 hours messing with it...I can see definite potential for keyword research. Though it doesn't display the exact number of searches, you do know that they're common. I think the best potential it has is for finding niche areas that have many searches but few results. (I found a couple, but they were misspellings...not the best thing to build a site around.)

I like this:
http://www.google.com/webhp?complete=1&hl=en

and Wordtracker.

I am going to play the role of a dissenter here.

What is cool about this is the DHTML that displays your # of results before you query.

Everything else is not that cool...

Example: type in "Britney Spears." It would be cool if it came back with album names, her Kevin Federline, Louisiana slut, etc. Related thoughts would serve much better than just searches containing B.S. (not pun intended) :)

For even the most obscure of search terms, Google comes back with almost a thousand results. I don't see end users putting a priority on how many results they get... how influential is 140K results compared to 220K??? I also don't see someone typing in "cars " and then saying, "Oh ya... I meant 'car rentals.' Thanks for the suggestion, Google."

I agree that the service is pretty much worthless to normal searchers beyond its initial gimmick-value.

However, if you're looking for niche markets (terms for which getting top rankings might be feasible) it could cut down on your research time. So it could be useful for SE marketers.

I would be surprised if it got out of beta. Of course, you never know. Maybe people would like to see popular terms that others are searching for. I actually learned about a couple new things when I was messing around with it. Also in support for this thought is the fact that Yahoo! now includes a blurb about its 'Buzz Index' info on the homepage.