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    The Hidden Google Search Box

    It seems as if Google is testing hiding the search box completely from the Google search results page. A post in a Google+ Community by Tom Johns spotted this first. He said he was using a beta version of Chrome, and when he searched, the only way to submit a search query at Google was […]

    google-g-logoIt seems as if Google is testing hiding the search box completely from the Google search results page.

    A post in a Google+ Community by Tom Johns spotted this first. He said he was using a beta version of Chrome, and when he searched, the only way to submit a search query at Google was to do so in the Omnibox built into Chrome.

    Here is a picture of how Google’s search results page looks without the search box:

    google-search-box-gone-1361886690

    You can replicate this yourself by adding some URL parameters to the Google search URL. For example, here is how you can search for [google] on Google without the search box.

    It is believed that Google is testing this for Chrome, but I do not have confirmation on this test as of yet.

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    About the Author

    Barry Schwartz
    Barry Schwartz is a technologist and 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.

    In 2019, Barry was awarded the Outstanding Community Services Award from Search Engine Land, in 2018 he was awarded the US Search Awards the "US Search Personality Of The Year," you can learn more over here and in 2023 he was listed as a top 50 most influential PPCer by Marketing O'Clock.

    Barry can be followed on X here and you can learn more about Barry Schwartz over here or on his personal site.