Google News Moves Advanced Options To Search Bar; A Sign Of Things To Come?

In what may be a sign of things to come across other Google properties, the advanced search search options in Google News have been moved away from their own page and placed right inside the main search bar.

Here are before and after screenshots to show what I’m talking about.

Before:

After:

There’s a small triangle on the far right of the search bar and, when your mouse moves over it, that “Advanced news search” indicator appears. When you click on the triangle, a full set of advanced search options appears — no need to click through to a separate page.

As far as I know, the actual advanced search options in that dropdown are no different than what used to be on the separate page (but it’s not like I memorized them, sorry).

Google Docs already has a similar feature, where a small triangle on the right of the search box brings up advanced search options. The upcoming Gmail redesign will also have (advanced) search options that are accessible this same way.

Other properties, like Google Image Search, Google Calendar and Google.com web search continue to have advanced search options on a separate page. But it’s not a stretch to imagine similar functionality rolling out across all Google properties, especially considering their summer announcement of plans to update the overall Google user experience with a “consistent visual experience.”

At least three of our SEL editors are seeing the new advanced search drop down on Google News, so if this is just a test, it seems to be a pretty wide one. And it’s not just us seeing it — thanks goes to Steve Rubel for tipping us to this via Twitter.