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Google Updates Its Face
whereiseljefe writes "About 12:00 am Central Time, at least when I saw it, Google changed it's face. Before it was a simplistic search engine, with a minimal front page, and now has become even more so. Those pretty tabs we have become accustomed to are now gone, and in the search results, the "summary" section at the top is now a faded blue bar (see here with a search returning ads). And the ads are a little more low key. Nice to know they are cutting back on their interface rather than adding spastically like Yahoo." Other folks noted that they've added Froogle and Local Directory pages have now been given links on the front page. Which is good, since inclusion in the main page tends to mean ready for prime time.
When they first bought in the Beta it didn't look too impressive to me (not being in the US), but it works pretty well and has a hell of a lot more shops.
Despite how much I hate advertising, when I actually *want* to see adverts about a product, it is hard to find.
You can't expect to wield supreme executive power, just because some watery tart threw a sword at you
The same godawful color schemes, ugly nexted tables, awful HTML code, etc.
Maybe slashdot should take a cue from google and update themselves.
It's good to see that it's not just me. I thought it was time to reformat Windows again.
I'm not normally an irrational zealous dickhead, but I figure "When in Rome..."
A great example of, "less is more". No, not pagers.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
except maybe that the name Google is becoming annoying/overused
But look at the poll results: Google only got 3%. I don't think it's overused in a bad way; I think it's overused because you'd be foolish to use anything else!
What I think is the best feature of Google is that they cater to their end-user, not their financial backers.
What I like best about Google is that they realize that taking care of their end-users is the best way to satisfy their financial backers.
Mike van Lammeren
It will challenge your head, your brain, and your mind.
The new google lacks kaw-pow, pizazz! It doesn't reach out and grab you and scream in your face - read this X-TREME web page!
Look, this is 2004, and "understated" is synonymous with "loser". If you want to put the mazuma in da bank, baby, you gotta POP, SIZZLE!
And I know what I'm talking about - I'm a marketing exec in a Fortune 500.
"And the ads are a little more low key" . Really? I find them more intrusive than before, because they look like the search result, and thusly my eyes tend to catch them more than before. And I'm pretty sure that's the idea.
Underholdning.info
I particularly like the idea of seperating "Froogle", I hope in the long term this will bias commercial support away from the generic pages. When I want to know about Hawaii "per se" I am just not interest in tour operators and hotels!
And if you thought that was boring you obviously havn't read my Journal ;-)
If their so smart, how come they forgot to use the all so critical flash intro page? Jason Argue about stuff
The (definition) feature next to your search query does something I've sought for a long time - it searches dictionary.com. The built in "Define:search query" never worked well for me, so this is a pleasent surprise.
Google isn't valid HTML either. And they still use an embedded style element rather than a highly-cachable external stylesheet, and still use crap like <body bgcolor=#ffffff...
Google also announced their web alerts at the same time. Looks interesting, but not as feature complete as Google Alert which has been around for some time.
exactly, there are so many retards in charge of businesses today that can't understand the simple concept that STEP 3. ???? IS NOT "PISSING OFF YOUR CUSTOMERS"
Unfortunately, it still doesn't validate!
All they did was change the layout.
With the old layout I could navigate the page blindfolded.
I had mouse movements down pat.
The tabs being close to the first search result was handy.
Now you have to navigate to the very top, center of the page.
I've never seen a reason to change an interface, just to change it.
The new look may be simpler but the old one had familiarity going for it.
Now that MS and Yahoo are picking up the pace and investing heavily against Google to outcompete it, is this really the time to change Google's look? Search functionality may be all that matters to a geek, but Google is mainstream now and has to worry about mainstream concerns, like "Branding". Google's old look was part of the Google "brand".
I may come off like Chicken Little given that this is such a small thing to be concerned about, but sometimes in the face of heavy competition the smallest things can turn the tide. I've seen it happen.
This has been around for a while. It was completely random for a while (for testing one would assume). I used to have a bookmark that would toggle the look back and forth, but I seem to have misplaced it.
I hate sigs.
I noticed the new interface just before this story was posted. I don't really like it. I much prefered the old "tabbed" interface. While the newer interface is minimalistic, it almost looks amaturish.
For instance, Google groups search result pages looks like they are formatted for a 800x600 resolution screen. Viewing it at a higher resolution forces a large white space between the search listings and the ads. I would have much prefered for the results to take up this space, fitting more results on the page at a time. If the group name is long, then the "View Thread" becomes unnatural looking wrapped between two lines. (example)
Maybe it's just new, but hopefully it'll grow on me.
Just for grins, compare to altavista. Altavista's UI is quite clean... looks like they've taken a cue from google.
In case of Slashdotting, here is the Google cache.
Unfortunately, I am not Wil Wheaton
If you guys use Google's adsense, you might have noticed that have lot of new themes as well. I guess, to make the Ads blend in more with your webpages, and make them lowkey.
P.S. Google Adsense is Ad banner engine, using which you can add Ads on your website and generate some ca$h
Consensus is good, but informed dictatorship is better
The problem with the tabbed Google interface was that too many clickable elements were in the same space. I frequently found myself clicking on something other than the "Groups" tag by mistake, for example.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
I find it interesting to see the slight variations of Google...geeky although it might seem - when I type http://www.google.com/ I am thrown to http://www.google.be/, so when I really want http://www.google.com/ I type http://www.google.com./ instead of using the "Go to Google.com" button (which sends me to the google.com page with a "Go to Google Belgium" button.
The definitive address with the dot at the end introduces itself as Google English in the graphic, but still has a "Go to Google.com" button, whilst clearly being the genuine definitive http://www.google.com./...but this version doesn't have the link to Froogle... :)
Phew - that's enough links to Google for one day!
-- Pete.
Monochrome - Probably the UK's largest internet BBS
What's curious, it looks in Lynx almost the same as in Mozilla!
Say what you want, I like it!
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
The Google interface is available in many languages, including H4x0r!
Learn to fly! www.beapilot.com
Is it a boat?
The front page will take a bit getting used to (now w/o the tabs) (see: Google cache of Google). OK, so it's really not that big a deal, we'll get used to the new version where the "tab" links are more squished together (note to Google: there's all that whitespace between the links waiting to be liberated!).
The real kicker is the new search results pages. Instead of utilizing most of the page as before for the actual results, and using B/W text for explanations, now they are highlighted by this ugly MSN/Yahoo-like pale-blue/green combo, which, (*GASP*) looks oh-so-similar to the text ads that are taking almost 1/3 of the page on the right. (see example: new search page.)
Well, I guess I'm not in the position to criticize a free, powerful service. But I guess if they are going to keep it free, they might as well try to keep the user experience as nice as possible. I'll still be using Google just as much as before, but I guess I'll be nostalgically longing for the good ol' days^H^H^H^H, uh, I mean 6 hours ago.- Alpha out.
HTML is broken, not google.
LaTeX - it's not just for bootie calls
A new design is nice and all, but what are they doing to combat the link networks that artificially inflate their own pagerank scores? For some searches you just get pages and pages of hits from "directory" sites that you've never heard of (that no one in their right mind would ever be interested in using) serving you banners and popups.
READY.
#
More interesting is the wayback machine's caches of Google:
Business today seems to be all about locking in your customers so even if you piss them off they can't go anywhere else.
:)
Google lock in their users by providing a good service. Bunch of hippies
That's just it, Google manages to satisfy everyone they deal with:
- People who use the searching tools for free
- Advertisers who want targets ads
- Affiliates that carry the ads
It's a totally amazing business model that no one else has quite gotten right. I don't regret a dime we have spent with Google and their services as we have seen it returned to us 100-fold.
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
And why didn't they use black scroll bars? I just love those things...
Not everything is analogous to cars. Car analogies rarely work.
Before link,
After link.
Hey, that's my password you are typing
One thing I like about Google is, while they put their searchers first, they also maintain very good relations with advertisers and site owners in general.
See this thread at WebMasterWorld - the Google rep is called GoogleGuy.
This sig all sigs devours
This is a good step forward but still does not go far enough. We must erase this "user interface" tyranny. First of all - the title - i mean, gosh, it says "Google" in my browser title bar, in clear letters. Such gratuitous self-advertising is unnecessary and garish if you ask me. Please leave the title bar alone. Also, why is there so much busy text on the page. I'm a busy man, I can't be bothered to read all that. I count over 25 words on the front page alone! That adds up to countless more letters. And that is not even counting source code. I'm bewildered and confused. Also, they decieve the user by providing, two, TWO COUNT THEM, buttons to search. One says redundantly "Google Search" the other poses the existential statement "I'm Feeling Lucky". Now I appreciate free psychological therapy like the next person, but PLEASE Google, leave that up to the experts on daytime shows like Dr. Phil. Now I am left pondering whether I really feel lucky or not, or whether I only am doubting my luck because I am being presented with a challenge towards it, whether this is all my parent's fault, and ultimately feeling that I need not search the web, but rather within myself to find out who I truly am.
But Google not only presents these "submission" buttons, but a range of categories to manifest my self doubt. Images: Is there something wrong with my own self image? Groups: Am I accepted as a member of a group. News: Does anything interesting or newsworthey ever happen in my life? Froogle: Am I managing my finances appropriately, or will I squander my fate through illiteracy or bad spelling? More>>: Is there something missing in my hollow pointless life...do I need something more to fill the void?
And as a last kick in the teeth, Google must remind me at the bottom that the page is copyrighted, and that it is "Searching 4,285,199,774 web pages", as if to say "you are not good enough to receive this page".
So, please stop the user interface terrorism Google!
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
Google is going to reset soon, they are reaching the limit of an unsigned 32 bit integer, currently at: 4,285,199,774 of (4,294,967,296 - 1).
Good bye google =(
I saved a copy of the page at the following URL: http://www.phrise.com/google.html (I added <base href=http://www.google.com/> at the top.)
If you're seeing the same thing, please reply...
Altavisa used to be pretty clean, eg this 1998 version. I've often suspected that Google's initial popularity was due to Altavista's desire to be a 'portal' (remember them?) and the subsequent cruft that invaded their front page. They even tried to backtrack with Raging (and isn't that minimal now?) but I suspect people found Google was also a better search engine, rather than simply cleaner, and never went back.
Slashdot looked deep within my soul and assigned
me a number based on the order in which I joined
Google getting overused?
What I find most ironic is that this is one of the rare occasions when I knew before the article appeared on Slashdot!
In fact, that would suggest that Google is one of the few sites that I visit more often that Slashdot!
perl -e 'print "Just another Perl newbie\n";'
I can. Many people look at Google as an authoritative source. Hence, the gripes you hear about businesses who are made or broken by their Google search result rankings. Now we have Froogle. The danger is worsened even more if people view Froogle as authoritative. Last week I was searching for non-U.S. made baby strollers. I found strollers using normal Google that I couldn't find in Froogle. The only thing I trust Froogle for is to view quick thumbnails of products. For most of my product searches I must rely on complex queries to bypass the senseless froth I see rising to Google's surface more and more these days.
My one wish for Google is for it to face stiff competition. I look forward to anyone who can topple Google with a better engine.
Thank God - not another facial gone wrong.
You know you've been at the pr0n too much when your think what I was just thinkings.
The worst was when my fiance went to the spa, came back, ans said "I had a great facial. My face smells great!".
Did a double-take on that one...
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
Maybe Google is using 33-bit integers? Ever think of that, huh?
- Which links people find the most interesting for a particular keyword. (User's first click).
- Which search results are "deceptive". (User clicks one search result, then another within a few seconds.) This could be very useful for additional spam detection. They could compare the stats with those for the pages that were reported as spam.
- The first most useful match. (User's last click.)
I'm only wearing half a tinfoil hat, but I really wanted to bring everyone's attention to this new feature and see who is/isn't seeing it. I got to this discussion late and was really surprised that noone had mentioned it yet.P.S. I am now seeing at work when I look with IE but not with Opera.
Look at Altavista now by yourself, you'll see how clean it is NOW. AltaVista means "a view from above". It is developed by Digital Equipment Corporation in 1995 in its Palo Alto research labs. (This is the reason you see DEC ads in its 1998 version) However, it was bought by Overture several years ago, which in turn was bought by Yahoo. Its database has been merged with that of AlltheWeb.
Google can change the most minute detail of their page, and the world notices, because their page is so minimal. Yahoo, on the other hand, with their excessivly cluttered home page, could put the goatse guy on their page and half the visitors wouldn't even notice.
Mod down people who tell people how to mod in their sigs
But not me.
free speach
Did you mean: free speech