Did you visit Google (GOOG) last night and notice something different? Google has redesigned its search results page once again. According to its Inside Search blog, the removal of the left-hand sidebar is an attempt “to create a consistent search experience across the wide variety of devices and screen sizes people use today.” A U.S.-only update for now, Google’s redesigned search page swaps the left sidebar for a horizontal one located at the top to give the design “more breathing room, and more focus on the answers you’re looking for, whether from web results or from a feature like the Knowledge Graph.”
Power users fretting over the loss of the advanced features in the sidebar haven’t been completely forgotten, as Google has merely tucked the features under “Search Tools” on the new menu bar.
The redesign is supposed to provide consistent search experiences across all hardware, but it feels like a step backwards. The advanced features have become very accessible for power users and hiding them under several layers of menus will be a barrier as users will have to click more links than before to get the same targeted search results.
Google says it plans to push out the new search results layout to more regions very soon.
