Today Google is rolling out a small design refresh for its Search product, making the user interface consistent with Search on mobile and tablet devices.
Today’s roll-out is only a small design refresh compared to the previous changes that Google Search has seen so far this year, from SPYW (Search Plus Your World) to the Knowledge Graph, as well as the new-look and consistency between its products and services, but it doesn’t mean that this update should be overlooked.
Previously on Google Search, you would see a list of links along the left side of the page giving you access to an assortment of filters and tools, these have now been streamlined and moved to the top of the list of search results.
You will notice that Search is a little cleaner looking now, the reason for this is that the search tools you know (or don’t) and love have been hidden away in a menu, conveniently named ‘Search Tools’. But is all this change for the sake of it?
Row of Links, Row of Links
I’m wondering whether we’ll see an update to the Google Bar soon, as the new bar atop the search results is an almost exact duplication of the links on the Google Bar, although it does make Search more consistent across its Tablet and Mobile interfaces.
It is strikingly simple though, and that is obviously what Google is really pushing right now, and other than what I’ve said about the duplication of links, I can’t really complain.
Months of Testing
Just like most changes to the design of Google’s products, they go through vigorous testing before rolling out for the public eye to see. This design in particular has popped up here and there for many months now, only those lucky enough to be in a small subset of testers saw the once-was experiment.
Now this change has finally been made official by Google, I’m really hoping that their other “experiment” will be officially announced soon. You know what I’m talking about, the new YouTube design. Here’s hoping!
Limited Availability
Right now, the latest design refresh is only available for those lucky ones who live in the U.S. though it isn’t hard to hit google.com to check it out if you are redirected to your Country specific Google site.
You can read more on the design refresh over at The Google Search Blog.
What do you think of the latest changes to Google Search? Join in the discussion down in the comments section!