Google offers carousel of mobile search results
When users make a query, they'll see a rotating carousel of results from a single source. Google, according to Ardan Arac, Google's search product manager, is trying to make it easier for users to find exactly what they're looking for... instead of simply offering a list of links.
"Whether you're looking for the latest clips from The Daily Show, news about the possibility of Greece leaving the Eurozone, or highlights from today's Panthers game against the Canadiens, it can be hard to sift through all the great videos, articles and more out there to find what interests you," Arac wrote in a blog post. "Now, if you search on Google on your mobile, you'll see the freshest, most relevant content from within a single website grouped together in one easy-to-scan place."
For instance, while doing a search for Computerworld or NPR, the user can scroll down through top results to find a carousel of recent stories, videos and other information from those sites.
Arac noted that users may not immediately find the carousel for all of their searches, since Google is gradually rolling it out to more sites.
Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group, said while this new search sounds like a good move for users, that may not always be the case.
"This type of feature can be seen as a double-edged sword," Olds said. "Google can argue that it's making searches more efficient and saving users time. But some would argue that it's just another way for Google, on behalf of some advertiser or other, to guide users to particular content and away from other, assumedly non-sponsored, content."
Some users, he added, will be left wondering why they're being pointed toward some content and question what they are not seeing.
Google will be showing off its new mobile carousel search on Sunday during the 87th annual Academy Awards.