Google's New Look Is Bingtastic!

Google has fully revamped their homepage and site design in its release of the  newest version of Google Search . The new features include a left-side navigation bar, a simpler logo, and changes to the user search experience. However, some of the design changes look very similar to Microsoft's Bing search engine. These similarities in design have to make you wonder if this new design was to help Google combat some of the success Bing is having in the search market. 

Navigation Made Easy

The left-hand navigation bar adds a  whole new dynamic  to searching. When you type in something, Google will show you the usual suggested results, but now you can slice-and-dice them based on different categories. For example, if you search "Olympics 2010" and only want to see  news articles  and  social media updates , you can filter the results to only pull from "News" and "Updates". Google makes it easy to switch to just the results you are looking for.

Under the category section are more  search tools  to further refine your search. You can look up results from the past 24 hours, only visit sites with images, view timelines, and more! These tools are also dynamic and will change based on your search query.

Less is More

A minimalist design, a modernistic logo, and a contemporary overall look align with Google's mission of keeping their service simple yet powerful. They have made subtle design changes to their homepage and logo, such as updating the color palette and removing the drop shadow, but have maintained their classic appeal.

Better User Search Experience

The new tools for searching help users enhance their search by allowing them to filter their results on one page. Instead of directing you to a new page, as Google used to do when you clicked on a category at the top (i.e. Books, Shopping), the sleek navigation bar allows you to stay on the same page and easily jump around among genres of searches. Google will even suggest which categories to present first based on which are most relevant and helpful to your query.

The newest version of Google Search certainly holds promise for a better search experience -- until of course, the next version of Google rolls out.

Marketing Takeaway

As Google works to improve the search experience for users, marketers need to adjust their search marketing strategies to better align with changes to search engines. For example, a look at the new search engine results page from Google shows that they are placing more importance on helping users find different types of media such as videos, images and shopping listings. Diversifying the format of content your business publishes will be an important aspect of successful search engine marketing in the future. 

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