Google Operating System blog has screen shots of Google showing larger thumbnail images for videos that come up in the search results. The larger video thumbnails show up for the first video result on tablet devices. I personally tried to replicate this on my devices, including Chrome and mobile Safari on an iPad and some […]
Windows 8.1 is intended to “fix” many of the perceived problems of Windows 8. However, for the Bing team, the release of Windows 8.1 offered a new opportunity to more deeply integrate Bing into the OS and provide a richer experience for users. With the new release, Bing becomes something more than a “search engine.” […]
Google released a couple of new UI features with the latest Chrome update for Android yesterday and announced that voice search will be coming to Chrome for iOS “soon”. Android Updates With the Android update, the long search URL box is gone and search queries in Chrome display in the omnibox. And now, while browsing, […]
Last week at the Google I/O developer conference, a newly redesigned Google Maps design was introduced. While a number of online commentators have virtually gushed about the new interfacing from an end user perspective, there may be a less-than-rosy view for many local businesses. Thus far, the new version of Google Maps is pretty much […]
Google has updated the interface for AdWords Express, Google’s AdWords product designed for small businesses. Among the interface updates are a redesigned dashboard to show an at-a-glance look at ad views (impressions), clicks and calls generated as well as a pie chart that tracks monthly budget expenditures. A new performance graph allows advertisers to compare results […]
Google announced that ad group-level mobile bid adjustments will start rolling out today and continue over the next couple of weeks in the Web UI. The added feature went live in the AdWords API last week. Like the elusive Keyword Planner that is rolling out now, ad group mobile bid adjustments are only available in […]
To make multiple bid adjustments for locations and dayparts without having to click into each target individually, Google has added a new “Set bid adjustments” button to the Web UI. The button is available when you are in the “All online campaigns” view, as well; so, you can make bulk changes across multiple campaigns.
Google is testing yet another user interface change – this time by not showing the URL of the search results on the page. @tecnonetblog tweeted that he spotted this test and posted images of it on Twitter. In the images below, you won’t see the URL, which is now green followed by an arrow, under […]
It’s not live yet, but Bing Ads is teeing up a new keyword visualization tool designed to help PPC managers analyze and identify optimization opportunities faster. Young Shi, a program manager at Microsoft who is responsible for Reporting and BI data visualization for Bing Ads, posted a sneak peek on the Bing Ads blog today. The new […]
Google has quietly changed the user interface for how they display the authorship snippet in the search results. The largest difference is that they removed the “more by” link that linked to additional stories written by that author. The other changes include that now clicking on the author’s image and name will take you to […]
Google has updated how you access the cached pages, similar results and how you share search results on Google+. Now, when you want to see a cached version of a search result, you need to click on the green down arrow next to the URL in the search results. If you are logged in, you […]
Bing Ads announced it is working on adding a Search Terms Report to make mining search query data more accessible from within the Web UI. Currently in the Web UI, search query data is only available under the Reports section. With the update, search terms reporting will be available in-line on the Keywords tab. Here’s […]
Google announced a new Google field trial experiment for a feature they’ve been quietly testing named Quick View. The Google Quick View badge is found on a select number of sites when a searcher uses Google Mobile search from their smartphone. The feature is currently working for Wikipedia on searches done in English on Google.com. […]
The Google Operating System blog noticed Google is testing a new form of Sitelinks on the mobile interface. These new sitelinks are sub-sitelinks, secondary levels beyond the sitelink you’d find in the normal search interface. Sitelinks are designed to help searchers quickly find the section of the website they are trying to navigate toward. It […]
Google has been rolling out updates to its Ads Preferences Manager, where users can adjust their account settings for personalized ad delivery, or Interest Based Advertising. The page is now succinctly called Ads Settings. The new Ad Settings page features a cleaner interface, but the main theme is consolidation. Now, instead of separate Ads Preferences […]
Here are a couple current user interface changes that Google appears to be testing. Search Within The first one comes to us from Tecno-Net, and shows Google adding a “Search Within” command to its Google Instant interface. When you do certain searches — like [CNN], [Apple] or [Google] — one of the options that Google […]
Laurie Mann has been promoted to run Yahoo Search. Mann, who is a man, has been senior vice president of engineering operations at Yahoo since 2002. Prior to that Mann spent a number of years at Oracle in various engineering roles. The news was first reported late last night by AllThingsD. Mann fills the position that was […]
Bing Ads announced that the new reporting user interface released in October is now the default. Users will no longer see the option to switch to the old reporting version. The updated reporting UI includes: A new, Wunderbar-style navigation for faster access to reports Report creation in half the clicks A simpler, more convenient way to download […]
Tensions were high in the pay-per-click world yesterday, as marketers held their collective breath waiting for news of what were rumored to be “big changes” from Google AdWords. Indeed, it was big news — the launch of Enhanced Campaigns, which let marketers combine separate desktop and mobile campaigns into one, with a variety of implications. […]
Users will now be able to find more on the go as a new round of mobile updates have been launched for Twitter. The updates rolled out center on content discovery as the Search, Discover and Connect tabs have all been updated. The new changes make it easier for users to view more information at anytime, from any […]
About six months ago, Google introduced handwritten searching via your smartphone device. Instead of typing, speaking or taking a picture of your query – Google allowed you to write the query on the Google home page with the tip of your finger. It worked pretty well but it was not perfect and is still not […]
When Google introduced a new format last month for the definitions it sometimes shows at the top of its search results, something was missing. The source URL wasn’t a clickable link. That’s now been fixed. Here’s an example, the definition box that Google shows for a “define speed of light” search: The URL shown under […]
A few months ago, Google introduced the knowledge graph carousel feature to desktop users. Now, when you search Google on your tablet device, such as your iPad, Google make show you a carousel like feature at the top of the search results. 9to5Google spotted this claiming it works for local based queries. I was able […]
A few years ago VCs and entrepreneurs believed that there was an opportunity to disrupt online search, to offer a more compelling or next-generation experience. Companies like Powerset, which was sold to Microsoft, were among a class of search insurgents that spoke broadly about the opportunity to go beyond what Google was doing. That battle for the […]
It’s been about six months since Bing unveiled its Social Sidebar, and the search engine is now testing a new format that drops the gray background and which shows more matching content from friends and social networks. Before & After Here’s an example of how the Social Sidebar still looks for most people: Here’s the […]
Nokia has many fans around the world who believe that its mapping service is the best one out there. And in selected ways it might be. Nokia offered “offline” maps well before Google. The company is also the go-to mapping provider for third parties, such as Yahoo and Yandex. In addition, Nokia plays an increasingly […]
Twitter is rolling out an update to its search results that will put a new “Top Photos” section above matching tweets. “Top Videos” may also appear. Twitter will also begin automatically showing tweeted pictures for those searching on the iPhone or with Android devices. Top Photos & Videos Twitter already shows top photos and images […]
Over two years ago, Google enabled users to customize the Google home page with their own image or graphics from a library of images. But now that feature is going away. This is coming to a surprise for many Google users because Google quietly announced this news late on a Friday afternoon saying: Classic Plus […]
That test many of you have been seeing where Google shows its search options above the search results instead of on the left? It’s not a test anymore. Google has just confirmed that all U.S. searchers will soon be getting the new interface — one that highly resembles Google’s mobile search results pages. Options to […]
Bing Ads has released updates to its reporting interface in a bid to make it faster and easier to use. The new interface (and back-end) lets users run multiple reports simultaneously. It also allows advertisers to create related reports that share the same settings more easily, since settings like date range are carried over when […]
If you’re searching for movie information on Google, you can now watch trailers right in your search results. Google posted about the change this afternoon, saying that a new “trailer” button will appear on searches for specific movie titles, and on queries like [showtimes nyc] or [movies nyc]. On that more generic type of search, […]
iOS 6 was released yesterday and the new App Store and App Store search results are now in the hand of many iOS users. With that, Apple has changed the search results to display only one search result at a time. Yes, when you use the App Store to search for apps on your iOS […]
Windows 8 is almost ready to hit the market. When it does it appears that it will deliver a new more “immersive” search experience, via Bing. In the video at the bottom of this page, Microsoft’s Stefan Weitz demonstrates that new experience on a Microsoft Windows 8 tablet (presumably a Surface device). Windows 8 Bing […]
Google’s famous “I’m Feeling Lucky” button on its home page has been changed to add new options such as “I’m Feeling Playful” or “I’m Feeling Trendy.” The long-standing “I’m Feeling Lucky” button, when selected (if Google Instant is off), will automatically take someone to the first page that appears in Google’s results for a particular search, […]
Want to know the how various countries are doing in the London 2012 Olympics? For finding out using a major search engine, I give the gold to Yahoo, with Google narrowly missing to earn silver and Bing getting bronze mainly by virtue of being third in a three contestant race. Ready, Set, Search! Checking for […]
It started with typing your query, then voice queries, then image based queries and now Google announced you can hand-write your queries. Google announced today you can hand write your query on your smartphone or tablet when on Google.com. All you have to do is place your finger on the Google home page and use […]
Google’s calculator results has just got a major upgrade to the answers provided and the user interface. Now when you search Google for a math answer, Google will not only show you the answer but also give you a new interface for the answer, including a full size 34-button scientific calculator. Here is a screen […]
Alex Chitu reports Google is testing a new feature for the Google Knowledge Graph. The new feature is a way to show an expanded version of the knowledge graph in the top of the search results. Currently, when you search in Google and the knowledge graph comes up, it shows you up to five related […]
Twitter’s search tool has just undergone a slight makeover with a number of new features that should help get users to the information they’re looking for quicker than before. The most noticeable upgrade is the addition of autocompleted search suggestions that appear below the search box as you type. The dropdown will show terms that […]
The SEO Consult blog noticed Google testing a new Sitelinks format. This new format shows the same number of sitelinks to the search listings but adds tabs above the sitelinks to enable users to see relevant sitelinks for the site by category. For example, here are the sitelinks for SEOBook: Google added tabs for “top […]