Sometime later today, a small number of Google users will see a new look to Google’s Search Options feature. If all goes well, the cleaner display may be launched across Google after the New Year. And it’s all because Google’s vice president of search product and user experience Marissa Mayer doesn’t like jazz.

Simmer down, jazz lovers! Jazz is just not her thing; she’s not making a personal campaign against it. Instead, Mayer was using jazz to explain a pet metaphor she has about search results pages. They have their own “rhythm,” and Google’s results have been sounding a bit free form lately.

“I don’t like jazz, because you never know what’s going to happen next,” Mayer said, continuing on to apply the musical style to Google’s search results. “I’ve been calling this problem ‘user interface jazz.’ This result looks this way, and that result looks that way [something much different], and it really does slow you down.”

Indeed, it has felt a bit confusing with Google lately. When I wrote my Up Close With Google Search Options story in October, after new search option features were introduced, I detailed a number of inconsistencies in how they operate.

I haven’t yet finished another piece about a growing gripe I have, inconsistency in how Google enhances search listings with sitelinks. I never know where to expect them now. They can appear in in any position, within snippets, on a single line and in even more ways. It’s been making my head hurt.

I raised the inconsistency issues with Google cofounder Sergey Brin last month at a press conference, and he said experiments on this were in the works. So now we have a visual sign of that.

Search Modes

Personally, I’m glad if the results will be getting more predictable. But enough generalities. Let’s take a closer look at the changes. Here’s an overview of the new results page in testing (and yes, you can use the screenshots below if writing about this — just link over to our story):

“We’re basically looking at a new look and feel for Google,” Mayer said of the change. “It’s an overall cleaning up of the search results page.”

The search options appear in the left-hand column. The former “All results” area that allowed you to switch between different types of searches (images, news, maps and so on) has been replaced with new tabs for these services:

Internally, Mayer said that Google calls “modes.” For example, after searching for “australia” in the example above, you’re in “Everything” mode (I love this name). But with a click on the Images tab, you can switch to “image mode” and get back image results, select News to get news results in “news mode” so on.

By default, Google guesses at the modes it thinks are most relevant to your search. But the “More” tab gives you access to the full range of search services Google offers. If you Video mode, and that’s not automatically suggested, you can select More, choose Video and get those results:

As happens now, when you switch modes, the search options change. In video mode, you get unique video filtering options such as duration of clip or to see only video in high quality:

New to the search options area in this test is a “See also” section that suggests other queries related to your original topic. As for a search on pizza, Google also suggests things like “tacos” or “fried chicken:”

Interestingly, it doesn’t show more typical related queries that incorporate the main terms, as you can currently see at the bottom of results now for pizza, such as “pizza recipe.” But perhaps this will change.

As the second arrow in the screenshot shows, there are even more search features that you can access by using the “Show search tools” option. Features such as “Wonder Wheel” or “Timeline View” or “More shopping sites” all reside in this area (to learn more about these, see Up Close With Google Search Options).

Google 3D

The most dramatic change in the design is that the search options window is permanently open, rather having to be manually toggled on, as is the case now. That’s right. If the test proves successful, Google’s almost certainly moving to a three “pane” format, with search tools and options located on the left, search results themselves in the middle and ads on the right.

Mayer said going left made the most sense. Google continues to add new search features, and they need to be exposed to searchers somewhere. Putting them at the top of the page pushes results down; ads are already at the right. Having the tools on the left, with the pane permanently opened, is something she said she’s personally wanted for some time, but not everyone in the design team was convinced. The test will be a final proof of how well it works with Google’s audience.

“While I wish we had gotten here sooner, Mayer said, “I’m excited to finally have it out.”

But hey, wasn’t there a search engine that ushered in a three pane design like this not to long ago? Yep. Ask.com, with it’s Ask 3D view that was developed under then-Ask CEO Jim Lanzone. Bing and Yahoo now have three pane designs, as well. So did Ask have it right back then, I asked? And is the three pane view now the industry standard?

“Now you know why I’ve been searching for John Stuart Mill,” Mayer said, speaking of his book On Liberty and how it discusses that universal truths always come through.

“Is it the trend du jour or is that a universal truth,” she said, of a three pane design. “It is a likely universal truth.”

Mayer added that Google had recently done nearly 50 mockups, all done independently, to examine results. A three pane design was a common theme that kept coming up.

Bimodal World Of Screen Sizes

Mayer also spoke to the growth of screen sizes, pointing out that we’re in a “bimodal” world where screens are conversely getting larger on the desktop (and people have more of them) and smaller (as people do more and more browsing on mobile devices). So a three pane view may make no sense for mobile devices. But on the desktop, there’s much more room to spread out than in the past.

“This is a first step. We do think we can add that left navigation and it won’t impact the rest of the page,” she said, pointing out that currently, the actual search results only take up about 1/4 of the screen real estate available for a typical desktop viewer. She also said that Google will do more things in the future to take advantage of larger desktop screens.

What about the navigation bar at the top of the results, which people can also use to switch between different search options such as news and images. Is it becoming redundant as the left-pane continues to evolve?

Mayer said Google would revisit the design of the top navigation links area next year. But right now, it works, moving around “a ton of traffic” to different portions of Google. She also said it’s a helpful way to unify Google’s various properties. Plus, it allows people to go directly to a particular search service, such as image search, without first having to do an “everything” search and then refine it.

Search Button, Meet Search Box

Looking at the new design, I remarked how noticeable it was that the search button is directly integrated into the search box. Consider the before:

And after:

Internally, plenty at Google have noticed the change and not necessarily liked it. “That’s has been one thing that’s drawn the most ire. If the ire continues [from the public testing], that may be one of the first thing that changes,” Mayer said.

She added that Google’s also closely looking at how well the Everything tab and the new Search button work, as illustrated below:

“That big blue Everything on the left and search button on the right, they do pull …. and we do intend to pull the user’s eye …. but I wonder if it’s putting the emphasis enough where we want,” she said.

Fading Home Page Slow People Down

Since we were talking design, I asked about that funky fading home page that Google’s been testing. Is that going to become permanent?

“The fading home page is either going to be reformulated or go into a whole new direction,” Mayer said. People visit it more and do more searches because of the change, she said metrics show. However, ironically, the page also slows them down. They take additional milliseconds to act (and for Google, every millisecond counts).

“Their time to first action is slower,” Mayer said. “It’s almost like they’re disoriented, thinking ‘What? Where is everything?”

That brings things back to the search results page. People like patterns. The more a page has an easy pattern that can be processed — the more “rhythmic you can make it,” Mayer said, the faster she says people will be.

So who sees the changes? About 1% to 3% of Google users, who will be randomly selected. The test will probably run for about six weeks. If successful, expect to see the changes — altered to take in account test feedback — show up across Google soon after that.

Postscript by Barry Schwartz: There are some people actually seeing the new user interface in the wild. Here is a screen shot of what people are seeing:

Confirming our previous reports, Google has announced and explained why and when it’s showing breadcrumb navigation in its search results.

Google says it may show these site heirarchies “for a small percentage of search results” when it improves the search snippet with more context about the link being pointed to. What’s pretty cool is that each link in the green breadcrumb is clickable, giving searches immediate access to different pages on the listed web site.

Not wanting to be overshadowed by today’s Bing / Walfram Alpha collaboration, Google has announced the addition of World Bank data to its search results … or, as Danny Sullivan said on Twitter, “we got structured data, too.”

Google says it’s now pulling in 17 World Development Indicators from the World Bank, and uses a search for internet users in the united states as an example.

Clicking on the chart in that search result leads to a data comparison tool to show several countries at the same time. Plus, those charts can be embedded on other web pages. (In other words, “Touché, Bing and Wolfram Alpha!”)

The full list of 17 indicators is included in Google’s blog post.

While Bing is happily rolling out new search features, Microsoft can also smile at the latest search engine market share report from Experian Hitwise.

Google is still light years ahead of Yahoo, Bing, and Ask … but Experian Hitwise shows Bing with a 7% increase during October, while both Google and Yahoo saw small drops in search share.

Experian Hitwise also updates some stats related to search queries:

“Longer search queries, averaging searches of five to more than eight words in length, increased 3 percent between October and September 2009. Searches of eight or more words increased 4 percent. The same time period showed that shorter search queries – those averaging one to four words long – decreased 1 percent from month to month.”

Postscript: Enquisite has published its own research on search engine referral data. It shows Google even further ahead of Yahoo, Bing, et al. But this chart tracks click thrus from each search engine, not the number of searches done.

With parents and teachers in mind, Google has announced a new feature that lets users lock SafeSearch on the most strict setting.

Using the new feature requires users to enter a Google account password, and when the feature is in effect, Google-colored balls will show at the top of the search results page.

As Google explains:

“Even from across the room, the colored balls give parents and teachers a clear visual cue that SafeSearch is still locked. And if you don’t see them, it’s quick and easy to verify and re-lock SafeSearch.”

The new feature can be activates from the search settings/preferences page.

In the increasingly high stakes game of mobile search, Google is leaving almost nothing to chance. Take the company’s very interesting new partnership with Best Buy stores for example. According to the Google Mobile Blog:

We’re happy to announce today that we’ve partnered with Best Buy Mobile to make Google Mobile App available through Best Buy stores in the US . . . now [users] have the option to get some help installing the app or to see a live demo of what the application can do. Just go to the mobile department at your nearest Best Buy store and talk to an associate. If you have a BlackBerry, Windows Phone, or S60 phone, they can help install Google Mobile App on your phone. And if you’re in the market to buy a new phone, they will help you install the application as part of their Walk Out Working program.

I haven’t been in Best Buy to experience this yet, but out of curiosity I will go and see (just like a “secret shopper”). I would imagine there will be some sort of in-store display or kiosk within Best Buy mobile — the “store within a store” concept — to generate awareness. But will there also be traditional media (Best Buy newspaper circular, TV) to support this and let customers know they can see a demo and get installation help?

What about new phone buyers? Will there be a “would you like fries with that” moment? In other words: “Would you like us to help you install the Google app on your new BlackBerry Bold”?

In the traditional world, retailers are paid all the time for their shelf and floor space by product producers that want to grab attention in the store. In many ways the store shelves themselves represent advertising “inventory” in this context. The Google-Best Buy deal is probably no exception. I’ll seek confirmation but it’s all but certain that Google is paying Best Buy to have its employees promote and install the app.

What’s also interesting is the fact that the Google blog post mentions “BlackBerry, Windows Phone, or S60 phone.” There’s no mention of the iPhone or Android devices. Presumably then Google is happy with what it’s seeing from the users of those platforms. The language of the blog post implies that it’s not as satisfied with the number of searches and usage it’s getting from “BlackBerry, Windows Phone, or S60 phone.”

BlackBerry still has the largest base of users among the various smartphone platforms in the US. (Symbian/Nokia dominates globally). And pursuant to the Microsoft-Verizon deal the Bing app ships with the touchscreen Storm 2.

Believe it or not, there are a lot of people who don’t know very well that “apps” exist or if they do still don’t know how to install them. Unless this relationship evolves or has other dimensions not yet revealed there seems to be something strangely disproportionate about it. Think about it: we’re talking about an app — not Android handsets.

We’re definitely in what might be called “land grab” stage of mobile, with the major search engines and a broad range of companies scrambling to gain users and visibility. While we can expect considerable evolution in the mobile experience and even “mobile search,” certain user behaviors established now may persist over time. So Google is being quite shrewd and potentially strategic with this deal — though it seems a little excessive for an app.

Postscript: Upon reflection . . . Android doesn’t need a Google app, given that all the features of the Google app (and more) are baked into the UI and OS.

Back in 2006, Google had a product named related links, which showed related sites on the internet based on your content. Google just recently relaunched related links at relatedlinks.googlelabs.com. The major difference between the old related links and the new one is that the new one only shows related content from within your site, whereas the old one took away visitors from your site.

Often, Google Related Links were confused with AdSense. They did and do look somewhat similar to AdSense link units.

The new related links can be tried out over here. Here is a picture of how they may look:

Back in the day, Yahoo had a product that was somewhat similar named YQ. YQ is no longer active at this point.

Hat tip to both Google Operating System and Google Blogoscoped.

Google Operating System noticed Google has added a new search option named “page preview.” If you go to Google, search on something and click on “show options,” you can then look towards the button on the left hand side and click on “page previews.” For example, here is a view of a search for apple with page preview selected.

As you can see, Google adds thumbnails of the page directly on the search results.

Page previews is nothing new to search, Ask.com did it with binoculars and there are many Firefox add-ons that add page previews to the Google search results.

Although some GeoCities web sites are still online, all three major search engines have removed the domain from their search indices. As of this morning, a site:geocities.com search on Google, Yahoo, and Bing shows that geocities.com is dead and buried.

Yahoo announced earlier this year that GeoCities — a free web hosting service that it bought in 1999 — would close this past Monday, October 26. But many users were still able to access GeoCities web sites last Tuesday. That’s when Yahoo actually pulled the plug. Millions of pages and images, the “neighborhoods” they belonged to, their URLs, everything … gone. Most importantly from an SEO perspective, millions (tens of millions? hundreds?) of links are also now gone — a small but measurable portion of the web’s overall link graph.

Google seems to have been the first to zap GeoCities from its index. Andrew Shotland tweeted on Thursday about the domain being gone from Google. On Friday, a Google spokesperson explained to us why they moved so quickly to get geocities.com pages out of their search index:

“After geocities.com shut down, these pages were effectively broken and giving a poor user experience. We took action to ensure that users wouldn’t land on the broken GeoCities pages and not find the information they were looking for.”

By Friday morning — if not sooner — Yahoo had also removed geocities.com from its index. Bing followed suit over the weekend. As of this morning, GeoCities is also gone from Ask.com, and from the Google-powered AOL search engine.

Ironically, though, Yahoo hasn’t killed off all GeoCities web sites. Over the weekend, I found one GeoCities web site that’s still alive and accessible on Yahoo’s servers:

That page lives at www.geocities.com/bolerama/. Via Twitter, Range Online Media told us that www.geocities.com/bradreviews/ is also still alive, and then blogged about several other GeoCities “zombie URLs.”

I suspect these are GeoCities Plus web sites. Those users can still access their site on the geocities.com domain, they just can’t use GeoCities tools to manage the site. We’re waiting for confirmation from Yahoo about these living GeoCities sites and will update this post when we know more.

Update, Nov. 3, 2009: Yahoo has confirmed that the “Bolerama” web site shown above is, in fact, still online because it’s a GeoCities Plus account.

We received some interesting data from search agency iCrossing yesterday. The data show US search market share percentages and distribution quite different than the major traffic metrics firms. The company says its numbers are “based on a large representative sample of Fortune 1000 companies, across all major verticals,” which use its search tracking tools.

Accordingly the iCrossing data show US September natural search market share to be the following:

• Google 76.7 percent
• Bing (increasingly slightly from Aug to) 8.2 percent
• Yahoo (decreasing to) 11.1 percent
• AOL and Ask show “precipitous declines”

This is how iCrossing characterized the data in an email to me: “it represents actual traffic received from engines, as picked up by our own analytics tracking across enterprise level sites, as opposed to all traffic on the Web.”

Compare comScore data for September:

Compare Hitwise:

The Bing numbers are relatively close in the data above but iCrossing shows Yahoo with a significantly smaller share than either comScore or Hitwise. And while those services both seem to show a stable core of usage for Ask and AOL search, iCrossing reflects losses for those engines.

Here are some visual representations of the iCrossing numbers: