Earlier this week Google announced that it is to slowly roll out changes to the Google Suggests feature, which will help to speed up searches so users can find what they are looking for more quickly and easily.
The first change that is to be introduced is adding suggested searches to the results pages.
Prior to the adjustment, users could only see search suggestions from the Google homepage, however now when a user has conducted a search and then chooses to refine / change that search from the results page, then they will again be provided with relevant suggestions.
This means that if the original search was on a particular subject and then another search is then completed from the results page then the first few suggestions in the box that drops down from the query box will be related to the original subject.
Another change that is being introduced is personalised suggestions.
This means that if a user is signed into their Google account and their web history is enabled, then Google will try and predict what they are looking for based on the previous searches they have conducted wthin the past 30 days.
From customer feedback and research Google has found that a high percentage, nearly 25%, of users repeat searches that they have completed within the past month, looking for the results that they have found previously.
Therefore Google has implemented this new feature to help those users conducting repeat searches find what they are looking for and provide them with the search term they used previously, as they may not have been able to remember the exact wording they had used before.
Obviously users will have to remember and type in the first couple of letters of the search to give Google an idea of what they are looking for, after all it is not physic, unfortunately.
There is even an option to remove some of the personalised suggestions by clicking on the ‘Remove’ button, found to the right of each suggestion in the drop down box and this will remove this search from the web history.
Another addition is navigational suggestions, this works by Google interpreting the users input into the query box. If they interpret that the user is looking for a particular website then they will now list it in the suggestion box so the user can click it immediately and get to the site that they are looking for.
Similarly, Google is introducing sponsored link suggestions. So like with the navigational suggestions, if they interpret that the users is looking for a particular sponsored ad then it will provide that particular link in the drop down box of suggestions.
Google will also be making a few more low key changes, such as, they will no longer be referencing the result count for items and also the suggestions will be in bold font to make them stand out more and make it easier for users to scan them for the one they are looking for.
These changes will be introduced slowly across each country, so it is not been announced exactly when they will hit the UK, but hopefully when they do they will make searching that much quicker and easier.
