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Google desktop search results could change its look, again
Google is already adjusting the way that results rolled out last week after admitting people had sent them concerns
Google is already adjusting the way that results rolled out last week after admitting people had sent them concerns
Google's roll out of its new search result design was not without its complaints. Any change to technology can create its speed bumps. But Google appears to have taken these concerns to heart, acknowledging that the shift may not appealed to everyone.
In a tweet, Google has said that after people made their feelings known, Google is now looking to adjust these results in the coming weeks, it wrote.
"While early tests for desktop were positive, we are incorporating feedback from our users," Google wrote. "We are experimenting with a change to the current desktop favicons, and will continue to iterate on the design over time."
Last week we updated the look of Search on desktop to mirror what's been on mobile for months. We've heard your feedback about the update. We always want to make Search better, so we're going to experiment with new placements for favicons….
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) January 24, 2020
The new look started first on Google's mobile results, with the company most recently migrating the look to desktop results. The visual shift made type face smaller, and placed icons, or visual logos from a brand such as a news site, next to the answers. Results also included the URL — or web address — of the result, to help people know where they would be going when they clicked on the link.
But almost as soon as the shift rolled out, some people started to complain that the results also made it harder, visually, to tell what was an advertisement and what was not. The icons as well, what Google calls "favicons," were quite small. Those icons are now missing from results. The URL, however, is still visible at the top of each result.
Sponsored results are still showing up in boxes at the top of the screen — but posts that are advertisements now have a small icon next to the result, in bolded black, reading "Ad."
How they will change further is not yet known, as Google is only saying some shifts will continue to be made over several weeks, it tweeted.
"Over the coming weeks, while we test, some might not see favicons while some might see them in different placements as we look to bring a modern look to desktop….," the company wrote.
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