Google Search Redesign May Be Rolling Out
Download Squad is reporting that a redesign of Google’s main search engine is being rolled out to users, which would make it the first major change in the look of Google search in three years. Interestingly, if this is a new permanent design, it would mark a trend of Google redesigning every three years:
- October 2001 - Google adds blue tabs below search box
- March 2004 - Google turns tabs into clean links, moves above search box
- April 2007 - Google moves links to top-left hand corner menu bar, adds smart tabs.
The new design, followed by the previous two:
2007:
2004:
2001:
(old screenshots via forevergeek)
Not a huge amount has changed, Google has just found a way to increase the amount of white space and clear up UI inconsistencies. Google had been criticized for putting the account links in the top right-hand corner, inconsistent with the rest of the page, and the new menu bar fixes that problem and makes it all look great. Also, note that they’ve added a link to Gmail, undescoring the popularity and importance of that service. They also moved the number of results and the page load time to the bottom of the page, and removed the convenient dictionary link.
The new design has two new features: Smart tabs are shown on all searches. The bar that lists the number of results has the word “Web”. Search for something else, like “camera” and you get a link next to web for Patents search, Product Search, and Image Search. Search for “blog” and get a link for Blog Search. Search for “movie” and get links for Google Video and Google Groups, and so on.
The other new feature is Related Searches. On almost any search you make, you’ll get a list of other searches related to that one you might want to try next. I searched for “spider-man” and I got “movie tickets, movie trailers,movie spoilers, movie releases”. I searched for “fish” and I got “fish pictures, pet fish, aquarium fish, types of fish”. Pretty convenient, and even if Google isn’t the first to do this, they are making it more prominent and thus discoverable than other, like Ask.
So, the verdict: Best Google design yet! Absolutely a move forward, a good job fixing problems, adding features, and making Google better. It’s no Ask X, but for Google, and their minimalist style, it’s the best on the internet. I’d give it a solid A-, with the old one getting a B-.
Don’t expect another major change till 2010.
To see the new interface, if you don’t already, follow Philipp’s instructions.
