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Google at Its Minimalist Best?

Written on October 6, 2009 by admin

Filed Under: marketing

Google is well known for many things to many people. Of course, search comes to mind. Then there’s e-mail and apps and on and on and on. Finally, there is the concern of world domination but that’s at least a year or two away so we can all breathe easier.

One design element that Google has been both famous and notorious for is its minimalist look, particularly on its home page. The simple search box and Google logo are as much a part of the Google brand and image than anything it actually does. Maybe that’s why it’s the most recognizable brand on the planet.

TechCrunch brings to our attention Google’s attempt to be even more minimalist if that’s possible.

We all know that Google is a big fan of minimalism, especially when it comes to its famous homepage, where it tries to keep its ‘word count‘ down to 28 words (actually, it looks like it might be up to around 30). Tonight, Google is apparently experimenting with taking that concept to a whole new level: the site is bucket testing a new effect that hides everything on the Google homepage aside from the search box and Google’s logo, only revealing the rest of the navigation elements with a nifty fade effect when you move your mouse.

Not surprisingly the homepage looks like you might imagine without anything but the essentials.

While this is far from earth shattering it is interesting in that Google even entertains the idea of taking things to the absolute bare minimum. I rarely, if ever, go to the homepage myself since toolbar access to the engine makes more sense to me but there are likely to be a lot of people who use the page to access the engine. I am amazed at how often I watch people actually type full URL’s in the search box to get to a site rather than in the browser itself.

So is there a need for Google to be any more minimal in its design than it already is? Does anyone really even care? The only time I even take notice of the Google logo anymore is if there is a special rendition to commemorate some event that Google deems important. Is this because Google is burned into my psyche or is it that I don’t really care about the logo, just the functionality? I’m so indifferent I’ll let you tell me which it is.

See the original post here:
Google at Its Minimalist Best?

Google Adds New Search Options

Written on October 2, 2009 by admin

Filed Under: book, marketing, seo

A year ago, we first started seeing Google adding Search Options to their SERPs to refine results by time or to change how those results were listed on the SERP. In May, Search Options became official, adding the ability to filter by medium (image, video, etc.) and view the results as a WonderWheel or timeline.

Now we get even more options with our search. You can filter your results now by:

• Past hour
• Specific date range
• Shopping info—whether you want to see more or less
• Pages you’ve visited (or not)
• Sources, including blogs, books and news

While all these features are very cool and could be useful for specific searches, I think it’s best that Google continues to hide the Search Options by default. Most Google users would probably be confused or overwhelmed by the choices there—and most of the Options apply to only a specific type of search anyway. Even I rarely have a need for the search options, looking at the whole of my search history. Keeping the options accessible on the blue bar above the results is handy, and the curious can click.

What do you think? Do you use the Search Options? Will you use the new ones? Do you think it’s best to have them hidden by default?

Read the rest here:
Google Adds New Search Options