Google Is Testing Its Own Internet Speed Test In Search Results (thenextweb.com)

Posted by BeauHD on Tuesday June 28, 2016 @07:00PM from the all-in-one-solution dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Everyone appears to have a speed test of their own nowadays. Netflix launched fast.com more than a month ago; SourceForge released their new HTML5 speed test soon after. Google appears to want a piece of the action as they are trying out a way for people to check their internet speed by simply typing "check internet speed" into search. The tests are performed by Google's Measurement Lab tools, and were first spotted by Pete Meyers, who posted a screenshot of the feature and discovered a Google Support webpage detailing how it works. The feature has not been widely released yet, but it's possible we'll see it made more widely available soon.

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I doubt legal action. by tlambert · 2016-06-28 21:46 · Score: 1, Offtopic

I doubt legal action.
Mostly it's major ISPs that offer speed testing, e.g. Comcast.
The trick is that they offer the test from a customer node within their network, to a test server node also within their network, which avoids crossing one or more peering points.
That actually only gives you "last mile" speeds, which don't represent real world expected performance.
A lawsuit would make this information very "in your face" for the general public, and stir up the whole NetFlix/peering controversy again, and that has to be the absolutely last thing a broadband provider wants to see happen.