Confirmed: Google Search Testing New “Clean” Design: For Tablets Only

Google is testing yet another design, this one is the same gray and black bar look but places the search filters and navigation at the top of the page, instead of on the left.

Amit Agarwal posted screen shots of the new design, here are two of the many screen shots he has posted:

Agarwal doesn’t mention that the new design is only for tablets, but apparently he say it while using his iPad, The Next Web reports. It also cites two others seeing the look on their tablets, hence the idea this might be a tablet-only look.

Personally, I am not in favor of moving the search results slightly down for the navigation and filters. I personally prefer the navigation and search filters on the left hand side.

Techmeme has a collection of news stories on this Google test.

Here are some recent Google user interface tests and upgrades:

• Google Testing Fixed Top Search Bar
• Google Goes Black With Black Navigation Bar Test
• Google Testing New Design Without I’m Feeling Lucky Button
• Google Tests New Colorful iPhone Search Design
• Google Testing URL Above Search Results Snippet

Postscript:

On Friday, July 29th, Google has confirmed the new design for tablets.

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.