Google Search Engine Update
Google is testing the roll-out of a new version of their search engine results page, which marks the biggest change to the Google user interface in the last three years. Google has more than 270 million users every day, and they’ve explained that their new interface is designed to help people find what they’re looking for even faster and more effectively.
The new makeover is a relatively dramatic change from the Google search engine results that we’ve become used to. In the new look results page, Google has activated a permanent panel on the left hand side, which offers suggestions for refining your search, by filtering it according to criteria Google thinks will provide more relevant results.
New Options For Google
As you can see in the screenshot below, on the left hand side of the actual results, Google suggests filtering the results by “News” and “Video” categories. Clicking on one of these options will provide you with results relevant to those types of modifiers.
More options are available, as you can see in the following screenshot. This screenshot shows the same page, after the “More” button has been clicked on, and allows you to use the new search tools to order results according to images, maps, books, blogs, real-time updates and discussions.
There are also some cosmetic changes, including greater emphasis on the search box, which is now in relief on the page and shows search terms in bold, the removal of the “TM” next to the logo, (which does not mean that Google has relinquished trademark rights), and a logo that is brighter, and less shadowed.
Additional Search Tools
Additional search tools, once only available by clicking the “Search Options” button which used to appear at the top left of the results, are now available in the left hand panel by clicking “More Search Tools.” These options, as shown in the screenshot below, allow you to change your search view, filter results by time and date, or to choose the types of sites you want to look for your information on.
Competition Driven?
There is widespread speculation that the move is intended to make Google compete more effectively with Yahoo and Bing, both of which have been offering a 3-panel results display for some time. However, Google explains that it has been testing these tools since 2006, and is only now ready to bring them to the public.
Although Bing has grown its share of the search engine market to 12% in the last year or so, that growth appears to have come at the expense of Yahoo, while Google has maintained a steady 65% (of the US market) over the same time.
Regardless of the reasons Google tweaks search pages, we’re always in favour of changes that make results more relevant, and easier to find.