Search Engine Land » Google: User Interface

An Easter Egg For The Qingming Festival On Google

Barry Schwartz — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:46:54 +0000

Searching for the [Qingming Festival] on Google will return a little bit of an easter egg within those search results.

Here are pictures:

Clicking on the page initiates special animations, including a fish jumping out of the water and back in causing a splash in the water and the man’s hand petting the animal.

This feature is currently live today and can be replicated on Google.com. Google India announced this on their Google+ page:

Have friends, family, colleagues in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan? Wish them a Happy Qingming Festival today! Not sure what this holiday is? Try searching for it on Google for a special treat! (Click here: http://goo.gl/AIcPx)

Like this Google Easter Egg? See the others below:

Other Google Easter Eggs:

Google Discussion Forum Snippets Now Showing “Top Answers”

Barry Schwartz — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:53:12 +0000

Google has expanded the search descriptions to show the “top answer” and sometimes the “question” for discussion forum like search results. For example, a search for ["incoming search terms"] in Google returns results from Google Groups and StackOverflow and in those snippets, it shows the “top answer” listed in the forum.

Here is a picture:

Both these forums support the functionality of labeling an answer to the question as a “top answer.” Google is clearly picking up on that, structuring the data as such and then displaying that directly in the search results.

This is all likely part of Google’s ongoing, slow and consistent effort of building out their semantic search engine.

Google has expanded this over time with forum sitelinks and listing the number of posts in a specific thread or blog post. This is just one more step in that direction.

Hat tip to Frederik Hyldig from SEOPORT.

Google Testing Toggle For Search Options & Tools In Search Results

Barry Schwartz — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:27:39 +0000

Google is testing a new user interface feature for the search results where they hide the search tools and options from the left hand side and let you toggle them open and close with a click of a mouse.

Michel Wester spotted this and posted a video and screen shots of how it works.

Here are screen shots of it first closed and then opened after clicking on it:

Here is a video of it in action:

Google often tests user interfaces and sometimes those tests are rolled out to everyone using Google search.

Google Mobile Tests Large Black Menu Drop Down Bar

Barry Schwartz — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:24:31 +0000

Despite Google moving away from the large black navigation menu on the web version, it seems like they are testing that exact same version on the mobile version of Google.

Alex Chitu posted screen shots of Google testing the new large black drop down menu on Google mobile. Here are pictures:

The second image shows how the “more” option overlays those more options over the first set of options.

What do you think of this user interface on a smartphone screen?

Concert Rich Snippets: List Your Ticket Sale Site Under Band Web Sites

Barry Schwartz — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:29:18 +0000

Google announced they are now showing concert rich snippets on band web sites so that you can see upcoming concerts and even book them on ticket sales web sites.

The results will show you upcoming concert tour dates in your area right on the results page under the band’s web site. Here is a picture:

The interesting part is there aren’t many rich snippets markup that show up on third-party web sites. Normally, when you add rich snippets to your web site, Google will list those rich snippets only on the page that has the markup on it. Here, Google is listing third-party web sites rich snippets under a totally different URL. It is a helpful result, but an extension you normally do not see with Rich Snippets.

I first saw this about a month ago and found it interesting then. Now that Google confirmed it, I find it even more interesting. I guess this is a good way to get a number one listing even if you do not have the number one listing.

Google Moves Away From Large Navigation Drop Down Menu

Barry Schwartz — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:22:34 +0000

A few months ago, Google introduced a new navigation bar that was black and very large. It was part of the Google+ changes across Google’s properties.

Last night, Google announced yet another change to that top bar navigation. The most noticeable change is that most of the main search options are back at the top, placing the less ‘important’ search options in a more menu. This new user interface is a lot like the previous Google look, but keeping with the Google+ features at the top right.

Here are before and after pictures.

Before:

After:

Google said they made these changes based on user feedback and added:

The new design retains many of the feature changes we made in November that proved popular, including a unified search box and Google+ sharing and notifications across Google. The biggest change is that we’ve replaced the drop-down Google menu with a consistent and expanded set of links running across the top of the page.

Google Adds Christmas & Hanukkah Decorations To Search Results

Barry Schwartz — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:11:59 +0000

If you go to Google and search for variations of either [christmas] or [hanukkah], you will see Google has dressed up the search results page with holiday decorations.

The Christmas version shows Christmas ornaments hanging from the top bar:

The Hanukkah version shows Jewish stars across the top bar:

In the past they placed these decorations as a border for separating the AdWords ads and the free organic results.

Hanukkah started last night and Christmas is just around the corner.

I still do not see any decorations for [kwanzaa] – but that might come soon.

Postscript: Shortly after this post, Google added the Kwanzaa decorations:

Google’s Let It Snow Easter Egg

Barry Schwartz — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:04:43 +0000

Google has a new easter egg for the winter holiday season – search for [let it snow] and Google will turn the search results page into a powdery snow covered set of search results.

The search results will become so hard to see that you will instinctively want to wipe the screen clean with your hand. Instead, use the mouse and it will help you wipe off the snow. Don’t have any patience for that? No worries, click the “Defrost” button at the top and the snow will melt away.

Finally, you can draw shapes in the snow and share them on Google+ with your friends.

Here is a video of it in action:

This should work in all modern browsers.

Google +1 Button Hides In Search Results

Barry Schwartz — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:37:18 +0000

Google Operating System blog reports Google has changed the behavior of the Google +1 button as seen in the Google search results.

Instead of the +1 button being displayed by default, it is now hidden until you place your mouse cursor over the search result. Then the +1 button will show up and let you click on it.

Here is a picture of the animation seen when you mouse over the search result, which brings up the +1 button and the right gray arrow bar on the right of the search result:

Then when you mouse over the +1 button, it will turn blue and when you click on it, it remains blue.

This seems to be an effort to reduce the cluttered Google search results interface.

Postscript - Google sent us this statement about the change:

As we simplify the look and feel of the search results page, we wanted a way for users to easily see the +1 button when it’s most useful to them, such as when they hover over a result to recommend it or when a result has already been +1′d. By showing the +1 button when people want to click it rather than next to every result, the +1′d results stand out more. So far, this change has had an insignificant effect on +1 usage.

Google’s New Black Menu Bar Is Now Google’s Old Black Menu Bar

Matt McGee — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 23:58:56 +0000

Google might like to apologize to those of you who are just now getting accustomed to the new black menu bar that appears at the top of most Google properties. You know, the one that just launched at the end of June?

Well, skip that. As the saying goes, what’s new is old. The black menu bar is gone. Or will be soon.

Google has announced a new Google Bar that sits in the same horizontal space as Google’s logo and search bar. I’m not seeing it yet in my searches, nor are others at Search Engine Land HQ, but here’s a sneak peek from Google’s blog post:

Why the change? According to Google’s video, because the “old” black menu bar “takes up precious space on your screen.” The new Google Bar also turns Google’s logo into what they’re calling “Google Menu” — that’s where all of Google’s vertical search options (Images, News, Maps, etc.) will be located.

Google says the change will be rolling out “over the next few days,” so you may have a little time to get unaccustomed to the black menu bar.

Search Engine Land » Google: User Interface

An Easter Egg For The Qingming Festival On Google

Other Google Easter Eggs:

Google Discussion Forum Snippets Now Showing “Top Answers”

Related Stories:

Google Testing Toggle For Search Options & Tools In Search Results

Related Stories:

Google Mobile Tests Large Black Menu Drop Down Bar

Related Stories:

Concert Rich Snippets: List Your Ticket Sale Site Under Band Web Sites

Related Stories:

Google Moves Away From Large Navigation Drop Down Menu

Related Stories:

Google Adds Christmas & Hanukkah Decorations To Search Results

Related Stories:

Google’s Let It Snow Easter Egg

Related Stories:

Google +1 Button Hides In Search Results

Related Stories:

Google’s New Black Menu Bar Is Now Google’s Old Black Menu Bar