Google Drops Ability To Watch Video Directly In Search Results

Vanessa Fox posted details a few days ago about how Google has removed the ability to watch videos directly in the search results and discussed how Yahoo! and Live Search handle video listings in web search. Ionut posted a few days later and got several comments from people who used the feature and didn’t want it taken away.

As part of Google’s universal search launch, videos listed in the search results included a plus sign that said “watch video.” As of a few weeks ago, that plus box is no longer available, and searchers have to click through the result to watch the video on the hosting page.

A search for starwars kid, for instance, now has no plus box:

In the past, there was a plus sign:

When you clicked on it, you were able to view the video directly in Google’s web search results:

As noted in our article last week, Google discovered that searchers didn’t find the feature as useful as they expected.

We are constantly experimenting with new features to help improve the search experience. When some features — such as the “Watch Video” link — aren’t as useful as we want them to be, we remove them and go back to experimenting. We’ll continue to try out new features in order to provide the most useful and relevant search experience for our users.