Google starts showing full page previews in search results
Google is today testing a major new layout to their search results - full page previews of the target site and blue backgrounds behind the search results when you hover over them. Click the image below for a full size version.
Context & Ripple Effects
Google has been iterating on how results are presented for several years, from tests of a new search look in 2007 to new search views in 2008 and a search-results preview experiment in 2009. The latest test makes the destination page itself part of the results-page decision.
First-order effects
- Searchers can assess a destination's visual layout before visiting it, making the results page a stronger filter on which links receive clicks.
- Publishers' page design becomes visible at the selection stage, not only after a user has chosen their result.
Second-order effects
- Sites competing for the same query face added pressure to make landing pages legible and credible at thumbnail scale, alongside writing relevant titles and snippets.
- Google gains another interface lever for differentiating search results without changing the underlying ranking list.
Third-order effects
- If Google continues moving evaluation tools into results, search competition shifts further from a text-link list toward a visual comparison interface where presentation helps determine traffic allocation.
The trend: Google search is evolving from a list of links into a richer decision interface that lets users evaluate destinations before clicking.