New Google Interface
Update: 29.6.11 – others are seeing it out in the wild, so while it’s all still a big bucket test, it looks likely to roll out everywhere soon.
So… after various bucket testing of different interface bits, today I’m getting an entirely new Google. And goodness – what a change!
My first impression is that this is a conscious attempt to look more business-y. There’s a pale blue banner area at the top of the page, along with a black ‘toolbar’ from whence one can access one’s Google products, should one so desire. The colourful icons for ‘shopping’, ‘images’ and so on have a tastefully corporate grey treatment and the other sidebar links have been shorn of their underlining and blue colour. There’s also a Bing-like ‘search button’ with a lovely logo.
It’s all very…. late 90s Microsoft. Very tasteful. Very (dare I say it) bland.
Individual results also have a makeover.
The URL is moved ahead of the meta description and – saints be praised! – the cache has survived intact.
Looking back at Google as it first appeared, with it’s childlike, 60s, silicon valley vibe and colourful logo it’s clear just how far Google has come from a shed project to a Proper Corporation – no matter how much they try to charm us with their quirky logo treatments.
6 Responses to “New Google Interface”
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- - July 1, 2011
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I think…. that I quite like it. I wasn’t expecting to, but it feels somehow more serious.
I bet that black bar doesn’t make the final cut though, but what do I know?
Yeah – it is quite grown up and purposeful. More like a 737 than a Concorde.
There’s something very specific that it reminds me of, but I’ll be damned if I can remember what it is – something like IBM’s whitepaper site from 2003 (not saying that’s a bad thing).
I’m now seeing the black bar but none of the other changes. Fascinating (he says, with only a hint of sarcasm).
I like the interface changes but the red and black does not suite web browsing in my opinion.
Yeah… it’s a definite late-90s corporate vibe