Google is offering a beta of a new search service that boosts speed by using special servers and cached pages.

The Google Web Accelerator is available as a toolbar for the Internet Explorer and Firefox web browsers.

The system uses dedicated servers that continually store and update the most popular pages. If a previously downloaded page has changed the servers will only send the changes so that it can update more quickly.

Unfortunately only broadband users will benefit. "Dial-up users may not see much improvement," said Google in a statement.

"Google Web Accelerator is currently optimised to speed up web page loading for broadband connections."

The company also warned that beta users may not initially see much improvement in download speeds, but that this would improve as the system was fine tuned.

Google has been very active in extending its product portfolio since floating on the stock market. New services include a search history function, UK maps a taxi link-up service and driving directions.

The Google Web Accelerator Beta can be downloaded here.