Tech Me

Select your Search Results Size in Google Search

Searching along the web i came across a feature in google search. Google is now allowing the user to select the level of details in the search result. The sizes are quite similar to a shirt size like “S”, “M” and “L” with default being M.

Interesting feature indeed. The “L” option can surely reduce few clicks from the search results page.

Default Medium Selected

Large will surely reduce few clicks

Though small is really of any use as it just provides the urls. The only use i can see for this is when you know where you want to land, but just want to make sure you reach proper url. Google is the way out.

But am just loving the large (”L”) feature. It just provides me an insight if really the link holds what i am looking for. Just think it should allow you to choose what should me default. That would surely be great. Anyways a pretty useful feature Google. Finally

Update: It seems the feature is under test. Google has suddenly stopped providing me the “S”, “M” and “L” option. Common Google. Bring on the “L” button please.

Tags: google, search

SearchMe: A(mazing) Visual Search

Awesome. That’s the response that came out as soon as i looked at the returned results from the url for “SearchMe“. Amazing design. Great looks. Have a look at the search bar itself, pretty inspired from Google.

Looks is not all what it got. It has also got some nice and innovative crux at its base. Enter a query and as you are typing in your letter, categories related to your query ,as shown below, start appearing. Select one and be ready for getting further dazzled.

Once submitted, query is indeed executed quite speedily and returns what can be termed as amazing way to display the results. It displays the images for the pages resulted from your query and also allows you to view the text result screeen if you need it. In there own words “It allows you to see what you are searching for”

And thats not all. It has got the best collaboration way i have ever seen. Enters the concept “stacks”. User can create stacks for there queries and share the same in numerous ways. Mail them, copy the url or put the complete result stack at your blog/website. See below the stack i created for the query “The Dark Knight”

Now that’s amazing list of features something requires to grab your attension.

To the important question. The search quality? I will say SearchMe has some awesome options to keep you interested for the first go. Solutions for queries you can always find at Google.And i sincerely feel its difficult to beat Google’s Search Algorithm and in turn Google in the search arena plainly on the results basis. It can only be defeated with the way results are shown. A more helpful way.

So let’s not get into that all hullabaloo involving war for serach results . Let’s just look at a totally different , but at the same time awesomely attarctive way for viewing search results and collaborating them with friends. Go give it a shot. You won’t be disappointed for sure.

Tags: new, search, visual

Google Suggests Finally…

After spending quite a lot of time in labs, finally google suggest has rolled out at google. I always wondered why google didn’t played and allowed others to play with suggest earlier. I understand there is no space available to mark the feature as beta. But as any other Google product, it can and will always improve, no matter if it is marked Beta or now.

Anyways finally it is here. Firsts thing first. It works only at “google.com”. Make sure you direct all your “co.in”s and “co.uk”s to “com”.

Why Google Suggest? Lemme hear it from the makers themselves:

“We find that by providing suggestions upfront, we can help people search more efficiently and conveniently. Below are some great ways Google Suggest can help simplify your searching.

• Help formulate queries: Instead of just typing [hotels in washington] - did you want [hotels in washington dc] or [hotels in washington state]? Don’t remember that song title or person’s name? Let Google help you search (and yes, I ended up choosing “From This Moment” as our wedding song).
• Reduce spelling errors: Since suggestions are spell-corrected using the same “Did you mean?” feature that offers alternative spellings for your query after you search, misspellings and typos can be corrected ahead of time. Instead of wasting your time with a misspelled query like [new yrok times] or [tomorow never dies], search the first time with the correctly-spelled query.
• Saves keystrokes: Who wants to spend their time typing [san francisco chronicle] when you can just type in “san f…” and choose the suggestion right away?”

Source: Google Official Blog

Am now trying to figure the benefits of this nice little feature for myself. Will update the post soon. Though am still awaiting that amazing product out from the Google team. Been long. Will say am looking forward to see the experimental/universal search out of labs onto Google search homepage in some awesome form.

Tags: google, suggest