In the modern version of the cola wars, Google Vs. Bing, Google has been making a number of changes to their search engine. Some successful, while others were made hastily to keep up or ahead of their main rival.
This past week it appears they completed major changes to the image search aspect of google.com. I must say I both love and hate the changes at the same time. At first glance the new look is very clean with the image search refinement menu on the left (images size, type & colors in the image), to the right Google eliminated multiple pages of results for one page that has a long vertical scroll, in a “Louvre style” image display. This cluttered image stacked on image style creates a a cluttered look that jars the eyes and makes it hard to view and explore the results.
Don’t get me wrong, Google did good overall with their changes. The image results seem more relevant to the query & I’m a fan of the rollover effect they have employed. When you rollover an image you get a slight zoom with details about the image. This is good because it gives you a slightly clearer image before you commit to clicking and displays only the details to the current image rolled over
The part I’m particularly a fan of is when you click to see a full size image. In the past you had to search the result site for the image Google found. Now when you click to see the full size image, Google will still take you to the result site, but displays the full size image in an Ajax pop up window over top of the website. making it easier to find.
So over all I would have to give Google an A- for their effort. While I find the Image result page crowded & cluttered (kinda the exact opposite of the google mission statement), the important aspects of search refinement, relevant results, & ease of use are more important. I’m sure we will be seeing Bing’s response to Google’s changes shortly. So keep your eyes peeled for them.
Post By: Darrell Williams