Topic: User interface

Twitter Search Gets “New Twitter” Look & Feel

For ages, Twitter has operated a standalone Twitter Search site in addition to allowing people to search from within Twitter.com itself. Today, that standalone site has gained a new location and been upgraded to match the Twitter.com search experience. Previously, Twitter Search was located at https://search.twitter.com. Now, that address leads to https://twitter.com/search, as tweeted by […]

Google Upgrades Image Search: New Recent Image Filter & Old Filters Return

Google has recently been emphasizing current/fresh images in its image search product, and that effort continued today with the announcement of a new time-based filter. And unannounced is the re-appearance of other filters that went missing in Google’s recent redesign. Let’s start with the new filter: Among the image search filters in the left-side column […]

Bing Maps Tweaks Its Navigation

Bing has announced a set of much-needed tweaks to the Bing Maps user interface. Rather than scattering navigation options both above and below (not to mention off to the side of) the map itself, all menu options are now accessible in a nav bar that stretches across the screen above the map. It’s a much […]

Whoa Doggies! Bing Lassoes Search On The iPad

Microsoft is updating Bing for iPad with a useful new search feature called “Lasso.” It offers a simpler way to search in context — with your finger. On any page within the Bing app (which is effectively a Safari browser alternative) users will be able to circle a word or phrase — hence the name […]

Google Realtime Search Goes Missing

Update: A couple hours after this post was published, Google spokesperson Gabriel Stricker shared this statement with us: We’ve temporarily disabled google.com/realtime. We’re exploring how to incorporate our recently launched Google+ project into this functionality going forward, so stay tuned. Also see our updated article with more details, As Deal With Twitter Expires, Google Realtime […]

Google Testing New “Branded” Places Onebox

Google continues to tweak and adjust the presentation of local search results on Google.com. I’ve stopped trying to monitor and track all the subtle changes and experiments. However yesterday Mike Blumenthal caught two different presentations of the Places “Onebox,” which appear when you do a business name search (e.g., “Toast Wine Bar”). The first example […]

Google Testing New Design Without I’m Feeling Lucky Button

A reader emailed us a screen shot of the Google home page missing the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button as well as a new look for the inside search result pages. Here are those screen shots. Notice the home page missing the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button: The next screen shot shows a completely new look for […]

Official: Google Testing Display Of Click Counts On Paid Search Ads

Intrepid searchers have been spotting click counts displaying under certain AdWords ads on Google.com, and the search giant has confirmed it’s doing a small experiment. Both Vinny O’Hare and Steven Weldler spotted the user interface test, in which a click count was displayed underneath the URL portion of the ad. In one implementation, the text […]

Google Gives You More Images, If You Ask Nicely

The Google Search Blog announced two new user interface changes for image results on the Google web search results. Google has added a larger thumbnail image when you hover your cursor over image and Google will show more images when Google can detect your search intent asks for it. For example, a search for [flowers] […]

Google Testing URL Above Search Results Snippet

I am seeing reports from searchers that Google is testing a new layout for the organic and paid search results. In this test, Google is placing the destination or display URL above the search snippet or description and below the title of the search result. Typically the URL is placed under the snippet or description, […]

Google Instant Preview Ads Fully Launched For Search Ads

Google is now showing Instant Previews — small thumbnails that show when a user mouses over an ad — for all search ads, presumably helping to qualify consumers before they actually click-through on an ad. The feature has been in testing for at least a week or so. The company is touting the new functionality […]

Bing Rewards Now On Bing’s Header Bar

Bing has added the Bing Rewards program directly to the top header bar of Bing’s search results. Now when you search on Bing, you will see the “Rewards” link and icon on the right of the “sign in” link. Here is a picture: Bing said that integrating this Rewards link into the header will give […]

YouTube Expands Search Filters & Related Terms

YouTube has updated their search filters and search refinements today. The new YouTube search enhancements include: (1) Filtering helps you restrict your search based on specific categories. You can choose any of the Filter options above to refine your search. (2) Exploring allows you to replace or add topics to your search. Clicking on a […]

New Twitter Home Page Emphasizes Interests

Twitter has launched a new home page design that the company says should be visible to all users now. Sure enough, I logged out and there it was. As you can see from the screenshot above, the new home page is less cluttered and instead focuses on a single statement: “Follow your interests.” Gone are […]

PPC

Yahoo Reveals Secrets Of “Search Direct” Alogrithm

I had about 20 minutes with Yahoo’s Shashi Seth after the press conference to discuss a range of things related to the Search Direct announcement. First, he confirmed that Search Direct entirely replaces Yahoo’s Search Assist. Indeed one way to look at it is as Search Assist Plus. The Answer Is Out There Seth said […]

Google Mobile iPhone App Gets Overhaul, Becomes Google Search App

Goodbye Google Mobile App for iPhone. Hello Google Search App. A new version of the Google app is now available for the iPhone, and this isn’t just a minor feature update — it’s a pretty comprehensive overhaul of the app’s look and functionality. It begins with the app’s “home” page (for lack of a better […]

Google Adds Video Instant Previews To Some Results

Google has added a new type of instant previews to the Google search results. The new previews are designed specifically for video results. The video instant previews show you several frames from a video and may even play the video preview when you mouse over the thumbnail image. I should not, not all video results […]

SEO

New: Google Lets You Block Any Site From Search Results

Google announced you can now hide or block certain sites from showing up in the Google search results. When you do a search in Google, the search results will show a new link near the “Cache” link when you click a result and then return to Google. The link that Google adds to the search […]

Google Makes Mobile Instant Previews Official

Google’s Instant Preview feature, which lets users view thumbnails of the Web pages in results, is now officially being rolled out to mobile for Android and iOS devices. The feature, which is accessed via a magnifying glass icon to the right of the search result, had been spotted as early as the end of January […]

Google Intros AdSense Mobile Interface

In a nod to the legions of smartphone users running AdSense on their sites or apps, Google has announced a mobile-friendly web interface to AdSense accounts. The site represents Google’s response to apps such as DuoSense for iPhone, which third-parties have developed to serve mobile users of AdSense. Folks who go to the usual AdSense […]

Bing Tiles: Interactive Images In Search Results

Like Google’s rich snippets and Yahoo’s Search Monkey, Bing is introducing a new flavor of richer search results named “Tiles.” Tiles are interatice logos or images displayed next to a search result. The tiles can share data in a more graphical way, such as a call to actions for downloading files, watching movies, movie ratings, […]

SEO

Redesigned Bing Bar Toolbar More Like A “Dashboard”

Bing is introducing a totally redesigned version of its toolbar, called the “Bing Bar.” Apparently it has been “rebuilt from the ground up,” says Microsoft’s Stefan Weitz. Indeed, it operates more like a kind of “dashboard” than a conventional toolbar with links to various sites. And yes, the Bing Rewards loyalty program is still in […]

SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 2, 2011

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing: “We Do Not Copy Results. Period.” The war of words between Google and Bing has escalated today with a strong denial about copied search results from Bing’s Yusuf Mehdi, who […]

Honeycomb Puts Android 3.0 Tablets On Nearly Equal Footing With iPad

This morning Google showcased the features of its new tablet-optimized version of Android: Honeycomb. Danny live-blogged the press event, Honeycomb represents a dramatic improvement over Gingerbread for tablets in several respects. The UI is the most obvious example, as well as developer tools on the back end. There are some distinct UI differences between Android […]

Google’s “Instant Previews” Now On iOS (iPhone/iPad) Browser

9to5Mac reports Google’s instant previews is now on Google’s search results on iOS devices. Instant Previews, which was introduced on Google’s desktop results back in November 2010, enables you to see a preview of the web page before you click through to that page. Many iOS users on both iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad devices […]

Google Tweaks New AdSense Interface

Google has announced of series of changes to the new AdSense interface. There are a handful of changes in Google’s blog post: The default metrics on the Home and Performances reports have been changed back to page-level metrics. The ad block/allow selector now shows the product name. Ad unit impressions and queries have been renamed […]

Google Christmas Trees & Kwanzaa Flag Joins Chanukah Dreidel

Last week, I showed how Google had a Chanukah Dreidel replace the basic everything icon on the left hand Google search results. But did you know that Google also has a Christmas Tree icon and Kwanzaa Flag icon? If you search for [christmas] or [kwanzaa] or [hanukkah] you will get a special everything icon. Standard […]

Google Renames “Updates” To “Realtime” On Left Bar

Google has renamed one of the items on the left hand bar of the search results. The left bar was launched in May 2010 when Google completely revamped their search interface. The bar contains relevant search filters for your query. Some times it had a filter named “Updates,” when used, it would show you search […]

New Google Maps Legend Exposes More Content Including Google Earth

Last week we wrote about Google testing some new UI elements on Google Maps. Today these showed up for me (in Chrome, but not Firefox). Replacing static buttons for traffic, terrain, satellite and so on, the new controls and “legend” make the range of Google Maps features and content more discoverable. They also make Google […]

The Twitter Alphabet: From A Googler To Jay-Z, Recommended Users From A-Z

Twitter is rolling out a directory to share suggestions for new users to follow, but it’s not a traditional A-to-Z directory of user listings. There is, however, a prominent search box atop the who-to-follow directory, and … just our luck … it accepts single-character searches. An alphabetical user directory wouldn’t really tell us anything, would […]

Twitter Launches A “Who To Follow” People Directory

The next time you login to Twitter.com, you might see a new tab at the top of the page called “Directory” or “People” or “Who to Follow.” Different names for Twitter’s latest tool for helping users find new accounts to follow. And it’s their best attempt yet at facilitating user connections.

Bing Maps Overhauls Interface, Exposes Map Apps To All

Bing has announced a series of updates to the Bing Maps interface, including a very welcome move to make its collection of Map Apps easier to find. Map Apps is a growing collection of tools that expand the capabilities of Bing Maps; some — like the Taxi Fare Calculator and Parking Finder — are extremely […]

SEO

Google Launches Instant Previews

At last, Google has finally gained a page preview feature. Called “Instant Previews,” this is a way for you to see what’s on a page that’s listed in Google’s search results without having to leave Google. The new feature seems promising, another way to save time in the searching process, because there’s less need for […]

Google Testing New AdWords Preview Tool

I reported this morning via a WebmasterWorld thread that Google is testing a new AdWords Preview Tool at this URL. I do not believe Google has announced this new version yet, but from what I can see there are a few minot functional changes. Plus the user interface looks a bit cleaner. Here are before […]