SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Google Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a batch of new Internet search features, including a means to automatically identify locations in photos and a tool for significantly speeding the loading of Web pages, which executives suggested may result in improved financial performance for the company.

At a public event in San Francisco, Google GOOG, +0.01% showed off new technology that lets users search on desktop PCs using voice commands, and drop images into a search box and retrieve results related to the location depicted. It also demonstrated a new feature dubbed “Instant Pages,” which can make slow-loading Web pages load nearly instantly.

While Google generally has avoided drawing a direct connection between its efforts to speed up its search engine and corresponding financial benefits, executives on Tuesday appeared to more strongly suggest a relationship between the two.

Where every spot's a hot spot

“As people are saving time, they’re searching much more, which has a positive effect on our business,” Google Fellow Amit Singhal said during the event.

Google generates search revenue from advertisers that pay the company when users click on their sponsored search links. “Search is at the core of our business; it’s what we do, it’s what we’re good at,” Google Senior Vice President of Knowledge Alan Eustace added.

While rivals Microsoft Corp. MSFT, +1.48% and Yahoo Inc. YHOO have teamed up to take on Google in search, Eustace said the competition “makes sure we don’t get complacent.”

According to data published by comScore Inc., Google held a 65.5% share of the U.S. search market in May, while Microsoft and Yahoo held a combined 30% share.

The Instant Pages feature unveiled Tuesday is an extension of the Instant Search tool unveiled by Google last year, which starts displaying results as users type their queries.

Singhal said that while the average Web page requires three to five seconds to load, Instant Pages uses a combination of algorithms and prerendering to shave several seconds each time a page is pulled up.

Google’s new “Search by Image” feature, meanwhile, allows users to either paste the Web address for an image into Google’s search engine, or drag and drop an image directly into the search box to receive results that can identify the location being depicted.

Executives said the feature is unable to recognize faces. “We do not do face recognition,” said Peter Linsley, product manager for Google Images. “The technology is content-agnostic, so we’re really just matching pixels.”

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Google allowed that a search done with a photo of a well-known person might retrieve results identifying the individual. In a similar manner, when asked if a search done with an image of a private home could identify the occupants, executives said only an image of a well-documented location would likely to turn up such results.

The tool “works best for things that are very well documented on the Web,” according to product manager Johanna Wright.

Facebook Inc. has recently drawn scrutiny as a result of its technology used for facial recognition, which has spurred privacy investigations by regulators in Europe.

During a recent appearance at a conference, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said the company has decided not to pursue the development of facial-recognition technology.