When you think search engines, you think Google. With over 60% market share, Google still dominates the search engine market. It’s no surprise then that Google is constantly innovating, in an effort to stay on top. Google’s most recent creation is Google Instant Previews, a new tool that allows users to view a screenshot of a website before deciding whether or not to visit the site. It is currently featured as a separate search function in Google, so if adding screenshots of websites seems like too much junk on the search page to you, you don’t have to worry about it taking up any space unless you decide to try it. However if you are interested, it’s a very simple process to start seeing websites in Google before you visit them. Once you start using Instant Previews, just click the magnifying glass to the right of the website link and you’ll see a screenshot of the website right away.
How big is Instant Previews, really? Will it turn the search engine industry upside-down? Probably not, but according to Google, people using instant previews are 5% more likely to be satisfied with whatever link they end up clicking. That may seem like a small number, but that can make a huge difference in terms of search engine marketing. Not only that, but Instant Previews gives Google an edge over Bing, especially after Bing and Facebook teamed up and added social search as a feature of Bing. Tell us what you think of Google Instant Previews. Is it a revolutionary addition to the already dominant search engine, or does it do nothing but increase the complexity of everyday searching?
Written by Brennan Mack