It appears that search engines are all doing some redesigns: Yahoo is working on a new homepage, Microsoft is working on Windows Live, and now Google is redesigning their search layout. The new layout will provide more information to users about a site simply by selecting the expandable arrow. Once the arrow is selected then more information will be displayed about the site, including a longer description/summary and a related image. They will also include related links to that site to help users find the information they are looking for more quickly.
This is a good idea by Google because they are not cluttering up the page and at the same time they are providing more information. Here are some screenshots on what to expect:
News Source: Yellow Pipe
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Tags: Google
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the blue arrows seems very big.. don’t like this way: I prefer the gmail ones
What I would love is a little star icon next to every result link to allow me to easily bookmark pages. Then they could make a Firefox extension to have those bookmarks interface with Firefox’s bookmark system.
I wouldn’t mind this extra information being available via a JavaScript text link down by “Cached” and “Similar pages”. The arrows seem a bit much.
Is this making Google more complex?
Anyway, I think is good for Google never stop improving…, that’s one of it best.
where did this screenshot come from?
They came from the Yellow Pipe source listed above.
-Ryan
I first saw a similar implementation of this integrated “search this site” in the microsoft live search results page, and it’s one of the few things that i like about live search. I was already wondering whether google will implement a similar thing. Apparently i was almost on th money.
It’s good to see that tbe Google UI team are not sitting idly on their laurels.
I really do like these features and I can’t wait for it to be implemented by default.
-Ryan
Yeah this has been on Windows Live for a while now. I haven’t really had the chance to start using the feature. I would agree though that there needs to be a better way of displaying results. The current summaries often times don’t really show what will be on the page.
Its good to see that a search is moving along with the rest of the web.
Actually, I think it’s a great idea. It’s also something that’s been a long time coming. Sure, Windows Live is already using something like this, but then again, being a Firefox user, I’ve had my fair share of complaints about the way Microsoft has chosen to make my choice of web browser a random hassle when it comes to trying to access their sites.
Anyhow, Google has almost never disappointed me when it comes to finding what I’m looking for, but having access to a better description before actually accessing the site means I won’t be wasting time clicking on a link, only to find that what was being shown in the search description was “ghost text” (white text on white background) designed to create a misleading description on Google (and other search engine) results.
Now, we’ll get a more in-depth look at a site without actually subjecting ourselves to the possibility of having objectional (since I’m a guy, that would be weeners on my screen) material popping up on my screen at work.
I definitely agree with how you feel about Microsoft’s browser compatibilities. It gets very frustrating at times how much they try to screw things up for Firefox users.
-Ryan
maybe they should just immitate http://www.ask.com/web?q=googl.....=0&o=0 .display the picture on mouseover.
Google is going to get sued by website publishers on this new approach. They are stretching fair use laws and scraping too much information from the host site, to the point where you don’t really need to click-thru to see answers or get more information on many websites.
@Nanobot: Try CustomizeGoogle, it ads a “save” link to every site.
How about adding the date the Web Page was last updated in the search results. It’s so frustrating to click into a site that hasn’t been updated since the web page was originally created about 7 years ago.
It would also be nice for them to include and X so that the result could be removed from the list if it is not pertinent.
That would be a nice feature to have directly on the search results. Being able to select a date range is, however, already a feature in the advanced search.
I believe if you have the Google Personalized Search activated then it gives you the option to remove the result and is located below the URL: ‘Cached - Similar pages - Remove result’
I don’t like this change for one basic reason. Today, when I do a search, I get about 1 out of 3 hits that is really addressing what I want. Although I agree that more information coming back for a link would allow me to correctly pick the links that I want, they also take up more space and I see less links per page than today. If Google wants to go down this route, then they need to increase my valid hit ratio. Maybe something like giving me an option of eliminating those entries that do NOT have all of the words I am searching for. Yes, I know there is an advanced Google page that is supposed to allow me to set this, but it does not really work that way. Secondly, get rid of the eye candy. The pictures are not needed in a Search response. It just slows down the response page and reduces the hits per page. I don’t want a longer response page and have to always do a long scroll to look at data.
This is a fantastic innovation. keep up the wonderful work Gooogle.
I would like to be able to google the female body
Bring it on, Google! You rock and roll in any case!
I would like the option to have pictures not display. I don’t like the mouseover option based on the annoying mouseover ads that always seem to by between my cursor and the link I want to click on.
As to Google increasing the hit ratio, there is only so much the site can do. Google is pretty good at this, but improvements are going to come in small increments. The rest is up to the user figuring out ways to define what they want better.
you guys need girlfriends. stop complaining about stuff you have no control over.
Yeah, this is totally against fair use, scraping my site, copying my content and putting ads on it? nice one google. Abuse of their monopoly position in search.
Another great job by google
Seriously not impressed. A company there size should be pushing Search into a space way beyond what is shown here.
I think Google have some stupid idea’s and could really work on something better than the layout of there search page, they have lots of cash and could really pull out some very good trick that would work well within the search engines business, but know they don’t look into that they would prefer to make things look better.
With there new idea I cant realy see it doing much good for them but could be wrong in lots of way, looking at it this could become a disaster for spammers as well and I hope that they have looked into all possibility’s.
I feel sorry for them people that have website that might be ranking for such keywords as “warning” and Google change there system to show up websites like Paypal, also we all know that there should be some big warnings about Paypal them self’s.
I just hope that Google have fixed the problem with lots of spam sites coming up for the search results instead of the good sites with the good information, I really think its time they work on that as a priority other than trying to make things look better.
A lot of you might have noticed that I am in the Google hate club and sorry for them that are not.
It should be just a + sign rather than the ugly blue arrows, I am pretty sure they’ll change the hideous icon when they release it to the public.
The extended info is not that good either, I thought they would add a pagerank bar or some pictures…
If you use Firefox, there are two extensions that really pump Google,
the first is Customize Google which puts other search engines in Google and kills the ads.
the second is Bumble Search - an extension that lets you put any other search engine in Google, and like the google improvements above, lets you expand results. Does some other cool shit as well.
To the guy who said ’stop complaining about something you have no control over’ - well you do have control, it’s called Firefox.
I do not believe that the implementation of ‘Orion’ will negatively impact web sites that have good ranking, quality links and great content. In fact, links and content will even become a more important issue to consider. A few basic search engine optimization rules will never change, that the consistent amount of traffic a web site receives in combination with textual content, in-bound links and out-bound links will remain the benchmark for good ranking.
The problem is that will be Beta for two years !
Rick,
I do agree that it will not negatively impact web sites and I actually believe it could strongly help draw people in. If you strive to provide a good site then I think those results will bring more people in, especially with the picture feature.
It actually reminds me of RSS feeds. Most people do not provide the entire post in the RSS feed which forces the user to come to the site in order to receive the full scoop. If you didn’t have RSS feeds on a news site then you would probably have a fraction of the dedicated readers you would get otherwise. I think that this will also apply for this type of search results.
Just my thoughts.
-Ryan
On the “more complexity” as noted above, I think if it not imposing then it is fine, even if it does make it more complex, I expect Google will allow you to enable/disable it under options, just like most features.
Have you guys tried Cooliris? Its quite similar to Google’s idea I think..
It looks nice and clean.
This will make searching easier and better.
Re: the fair use complaints
First of all I think the new presentation brings more relevant information to Joe Search.
Second the right to show a site thumb or a main image thumb should be controllable by the site owner i.e. through robots.txt
Third point is that fair use is only a valid fact for the USA. Other countries other laws.
Last not least Google should (must?) document where the additional info comes from … but if they do spam will follow first.
This reply box here sucks, when I click on any of the boxes to insert this comment it redirects me to Kraloyn.com website. Annoying. I use Opera. To avoid this, hit TAB key….
So now to my posting……
I think the idea behind this new search layout is great. My only concern is what are the implications. Now google has the power to mix the content of the page previow under the arrow with context links. For example on website about nike shoes google could insert active link to nike shoe webstore and these kind of things. Hopefully Google know where are the limits of this.
Jan,
I am not sure what you are talking about with being redirected to Kraloyn.com, I would guess you are just trying to promote that site?
-Ryan
Well, not a bad idea…however they will get sued left, right and center over this for sure if they ever roll it out.
The example of the Paypal excerpt is far too long. I would not be happy with that amount of info from my site being shown.
Remember AFP and G News, I think this would lead to a lot more than G News has had.
I like. Now I know what the arrows are.
Jonga.co.za has a much more better and exciting interface and would make Google green with envy
I would appreciate if Google could add some trust rank information (like spyware, xxx) about the site as well so user can avoid hitting that page.
Because there are a lot of instances when i search through to a site and it comes out adware site or something u dont want to visit.
I dont know what implications there would be by Law if Google rank somebody’s site as NOT RECOMENDED for some reason.
I think that is an amazing idea, however, I am sure a lot of people would get mad when Google has flagged their site as spyware even though they will claim it is not.
-Ryan
Hi Guys,
I would like to first of all thank Ryan for his work on getting this information to us so we are in a better position to see where Google is heading.
I feel that yes the “Arrow” is odd looking and a “+” would probably look and work better. It is high time that google changed the way search results are displayed to the user. I also feel that its high time that google removed links to sites that are search engines or link farms as this is not what the user is searching for in most cases.
I am a web designer/ optimiser and this is my biggest pet hate. There are so many site out there that are nothing more then link pages that point you to the same search results as google or yahoo, however this puts me off and i am sure it puts other ppl too as it can get messy looking for the ideal page or site.
There, i have had my 2 cents worth…..rant over.
Is show!
I think there will come out some more changes than only the design, the next month.
What do you mean with “is show”?
I hope Google will allow us to continue using the actual version of their web search site.
The futures site will create bigger web pages that will be harder to load and use. It would be nice if we will be able to configure it to show only the things we want in the search result.
I would like to see only the title of the page, the url, and to be able to choose how long to be the description that should be displayed on the screen without needing to click on a link that uses Javascript.
I would also like to see the pagerank, but only for comparing my pages with those of my competitors.
Google can’t find if a page was updated, so this is not important.
I can make a page seem to be updated every day without touching its content manually…
I prefer now Google because the web search result page is much smaller than Yahoo’s one and I hope they won’t create a page that’s more nice but bigger.
I guess: It´s more complex.
It’s a real shame with Google!
I still think Google’s design is very bad. Yeah, the power is in simplicity, but why are Web2 projects so favoured. Google is imho loosing points every day with their design being the same since 1999.
Remember,Google is not your friend!!! They broke law, “cache” in Google search results shows not current content…
I’m not sure why a cache would show the current results. A cache is supposed to be something that gets pulled from Google’s “memory bank” and is only updated when they visit that particular page. So it is as recent as possible, and in my experience it is normally just a few days old.
I was looking for any article about this from several weeks. And I foud it here. Many thanks. Good job, man.
I think the current design is more user friendly since most people I talk to seem to like to use several windows at once. Therefore, the narrower the better. But overall it doesn’t seem to make much difference. I would like a three column layout myself, but I’m the exception.