I am constantly in search of good images — for a presentation, blog post, etc. My first stop for searching is always Google Image Search, before turning to other free and pay-per-image image search/ repository options. Nine times out of ten, I find what I need from Google.
So, it was a happy surprise today to see that Google has upgraded their Image Search Results. Obviously they were feeling some Bing! heat and made some improvements to maintain a hefty lead.
Google Can Haz Improved Image Looks
Here is Bing!’s Image Search Results Page
The most helpful improvements to Image Search Results that Google has made are the following:
- Scrolling - You no longer have to slog through the Previous<<>>Next pagination. Now up to 1,000 results of image goodness comes up in a single results page with simple “Page 1, 2, 3″ dividers to help you keep track of where you are. Google & Bing! Tie
- Image Hover View - You no longer have to click on each thumbnail image to really see what you are going to get. Hover over the image and you get a preview. Advantage to Google
- Better Thumbnail Images - Even before you hover over an image, now the thumbnail images have been greatly enhanced. They are slightly bigger than they were before and better resolution too. Google & Bing! Tie
- Lightbox Image View - Previously you had to click on the image, then click on the “View Full Image” text link in order to see the full image by itself and copy/ save it. In the new and improved version you just click on the image from the results and the full image pops up in a lightbox that you can copy/ save from. Advantage to Google
I think these improvements stay within the typical Google approach …simple, non-flashy and with maximizing the user experience as the primary goal.
Thanks Google for the nice improvements.
Google has a funny and smart twist on their habit of changing up the “G-O-O-G-L-E” that is above the search bar on their main search page.
This little Rube Golbergesque animation is a visual reference to their recent interactive video that advertises how fast Google Chrome is.
This YouTube video has been making the rounds today as “The Google Job Experiment”, but it is worth sharing and talking about a little.
An out of work creative came up with a very unconventionally brilliant way to get his name in front of some of the hottest names in advertising/ creative today. He capitalized on the simple fact that people are vain and they do indeed Google themselves.
Not bad for $6.
Absolutely the funniest parody video I have seen in awhile.
There are a couple things that make this even funnier …
- That even though this is a joke, nearly everything he says is 100% true
- The more this video goes viral, the more money Google makes
So, the joke is on you suckers …index that …Google teleport now.
Google is releasing a new tool called SideWiki which will allow people to read/ post/ share comments about any page on the Internet. The tool comes as an install for the Google toolbar and would show up as a right-side alley on your browser. Given how popular and helpful sites like Yelp are this sounds like a brilliant tool (and so simple too — dammit why did I not think of this).
I have not yet installed it, but off the top of my head the following questions and comments came to mind:
- Great! More clutter vying for my attention.
- What about my del.icio.us sidebar that is already in that spot?
- Wonder what Googleriffic algorithm will rank these comments
- Good idea to incorporate sharing (twitter, facebook, etc) to this. That will speed up the adoption rate of this tool.
- Great idea to let users rank comments & potentially kill the spam/snark comments.
- How long until we are forced to look at the clutter, er ..I mean comments AND the paid advertising in this space now too?
- This changes the typical eye-movement sequence on a page drastically. Look for big changes in UI best practices soon.
- What sort of cool sites and apps will be launched based on info/data aggregated from this tool?
- Thousands of people in India just got new jobs. Professional SideWiki commenters.
- Hear that sound? That was the last nail in the coffin for already useless banner ads.
Either way, a smart move by Google (shocker) and something new and interesting to follow progress on to see how this evolves.
My ongoing XtraNormal webisode series of my cartoon alter ego discusing online topics with various characters continues with this latest directorial masterpiece. In this episode, I discuss the interesting benefits of using online trending metrics such as Twitter and Google trends as predictive tools for advertising.
My co-stars in this digital short are the infamous Edward from England, and his sweet sweet mustache Mr. Bristles.
I am anxiously awaiting the call from Hollywood to leave advertising and follow my true calling as a webisode director that specializes in advertising-geek humor and storylines that include clowns, ninjas, and mustaches.
