The sidebar will provide users with various search options to help make a user’s search experience easier and more enjoyable. Search options include the ability to search within a certain time frame. Also useful for users are suggested searches / related searches so that users can expand their search results if they can’t find it with their initial searches. Meyer points out that “we’re basically looking at a new look and feel for Google. It’s an overall cleaning up of the search results page.”
This is a big change for Google who hasn’t initiated any major changes like this in the past. It seems like they are attempting to overhaul a lot of aspects of their company for better user experience. It’s a welcome change though, simply to know that even an industry leader like Google knows when it needs to evolve to stay on top.
The new interface will be introduced to a few select users for testing before being rolled out site-wide.
Written by: Daisy K.