Google Search Page: Revamped and Reloaded with More Space to the Left

by Prejushya Kalicharan - 11/7/2012 7267 Views

Google Drags Its Vertical Search Tools to Top Horizontal Line

Google officially announced on Tuesday that it is all set delivering a new search page for PCs and desktops. The tool menu which was lying by the left side of the search page is been shifted to the top of the page. However this refresh is not news to smartphone users. Last year, Google incorporated this type of display into tablets and now has shifted the same to desktops, as an initiative to streamline the process flow and make it more consistent. Smartphones were aided with this feature few weeks back.

Google says, “With the new design, there's a bit more breathing room, and more focus on the answers you're looking for, whether from web results or from a feature like the Knowledge Graph”

The effect showed signs at first in the U.S. and hopefully would eventually spread across the world. Right now it is not available in India. The redesign adds more visibility to the Knowledge graph that lies along the right side of the page. However the advanced search option (indicated by means of a flower shaped gear icon) at the extreme right-top still stays at the same place. In short, the left side of the results page is cleared to provide a cleaner layout OR maybe to insert a new set of ads over there too. We should wait a bit more to see the part played by this white space.

The old vertical tool menu display as shown below,

Here are some screen shots depicting how the tool menu looks like now in its horizontal display position,

Responses to the design change

“What's wrong with these STUPID tech people? If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Haven't they ever heard of the Beatles song, "Let it Be"? Yahoo used to change their home page all the time and I hated it! So much so, that I STOPPED using it! Guess I'm going to have to STOP using Google too. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”
“This is ridiculous. Google, do you know that most of us nowadays are using widescreen monitor? And you put the options on TOP? And dropdown menu???”
“Its ironic that they have Analytics and a feature that shows what percentage people click certain things and where about on the screen they are interested in.. I'd say at lest 30% of people use that sidebar on a regular basis to quickly change size of images and other options...”
“Great. Now there's a big empty vertical column on the left where the tools used to be. And now there are two horizontal menus at the top of the page. Maybe it looks better on a Nexus, but it just means more scrolling on a PC”

Are you able to notice the change in your location?

Category :

Google

Tags :

Google Search Page, Google, Google search page update, Horizontal display in Google Search,

About Prejushya Kalicharan

SEO is a challenging field and I try my best to surpass this challenging environment which is unconditionally filled with opportunities, knowledge building and problem solving. I pursue what I .... more info about the author