The most popular webpage in the world also happens to be one of the simplest and most recognizable. While other search companies in the early days of search were busy stuffing more and more content onto their pages, Google decided to keep things as minimalistic as possible. Coupled with superior search technology that yielded better results than rival sites, Google’s simple design ultimately helped make it the most popular and successful search company in the world.
But it appears as though the instantly recognizable design you know and love is about to change.
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Google recently gave its Android platform a massive visual overhaul using new design principles the company calls “Material Design.” The updated user interface makes excellent use of layers and subtle shadows to create a digital representation of physical sheets of material sitting atop each other. It’s a very cool look and it has already begun to trickle out to Google’s iOS apps and even some Google websites as well.
Now, it looks like Google’s crown jewel is about to get a Material Design makeover.
Reports like this one on Reddit have begun popping up from people who now see the new layout on Google’s search results pages. The new look seems subtle at first, but it’s actually a pretty big departure from the design principles used on Google’s current results pages.
Here’s the new layout:
And here’s a GIF made by Engadget to help illustrate the differences between the current layout and the new one:
Google regularly rolls out new search features to a relatively small number of users before releasing changes globally, and it’s not immediately clear when this redesign will be pushed out to all users.
