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.
Unless you live under a rock, you have probably heard a little something here or there about Google Wave. Basically the two Google wunderkinds are about to do what they do best… take something that everyone uses and blow it to SMITHEREENS with a replacement that we may not be ready for yet but one that will improve our lives.
(BTW…Gold star to me for figuring out how to get the word “smithereens” into a post)
What communication channel has become the most vital to everyone in the last 15 years….you are probably checking it in a separate browser and on your phone while you are reading my little blog post here. Anyone who has had email go down for a few hours or heaven forbid a day knows that at this point email is by far the most important communication channel in your life. It is sort of sad, and embarrassing when you actually analyze yourself in this light….that is if you can put the crackberry down long enough for a life analysis.
So, what does Google do? They figure out a way to take the vital comm channel we all need like we need oxygen and change the game. They are taking email…and mashing it together with twitter, facebook, linkdin, bebo, friendfeed, ??? + your IM communications….and stirring it all up to produce a new method of online communication. They are calling it Google Wave, and it is being developed and will be in testing soon.
It is very exciting to hear this, and also a little scary since it means we (which by nature includes me) have to change something that has become part of our methodical daily routine.
As Garth would say from Wayne’s World (…age just shown); “we fear change”
You may have read my previous post about Wolfram Alpha, and how they are getting some serious buzz lately about their new search engine that is launching in May 2009…….wait what is today, ummmm? well I am sure it will launch any second now. Well, Google did not launch any counterattack PR campaign or anything but they did comment on WA and basically politely reminded everyone that the 10 terabytes of data that Wolram Alpha can parse with their model is chump change to the 20,000 terabytes that Google processes per day. In addition, they gave some sneak peaks of a few projects they are working on in Google Lab to advance search.
The Wonder Wheel looks cool, but is nothing new nor is it really even all that useful. The Google Squared idea looks very interesting and could be a huge step in advancing search. I do not have any solid details about how far out this is from making it out of Google Lab and into the mainstream. Check out the video below for to see how Google Squared works.
I read an article by Fredric Lardinos on RWW (…love that site if you could not tell) that gave an overview and a few sneak peaks at a new search engine that is supposed to launch in the next few weeks called Wolfram Alpha. It is a search engine based on an astounding base of mathmatics & algorithmic theory that is so many miles above my mathmatically challenged brain that I will not even attempt to explain it for fear of butchering it and getting slammed by a bunch of beautiful mind dudes. If you want to get into the details of the math, you can read Fredrick’s article here or go straight to the source and read the WA blog post here.
There is some buzz that this new search engine might be a Google Killer, but here are a few reasons why it will not be:
- It is more like Wikipedia than Google. It is a wikipedia killer (or severe pain inflictor) maybe except for the argument that even the smartest math nerd can’t be smarter than the total community that makes up the wiki part of wikipedia
- Too brainy for us regular folk. The types of search queries WA seems to provide answers to are not of the same commercial variety that Google is so great at delivering. Sure it may kick Google’s ass if you wanted to know how far the earth is to the moon at this very second (…so wouldn’t that answer yielded be wrong as soon as it was posted?) but when it comes to the average person’s search needs….find a site….Google will not be touched by WA
- ….Umm revenue model?? Unless they have an enormous research grant of some sort, they will need a hellovalota money to steal marketshare from Google and even come close to scratching the surface of Google scale. In fact, ironically I am certain that there is an economics math problem that could figure this out to the decimal point.
- Google will just buy them. And not just because the can in a blink, but because they will think that WA is onto something genius and are smart enough to know that this would be a very nice compliment to their existing offering.
So, I guess we will wait and see.
