Google Instant Preview Puts Search Under Magnifying Glass

Posted on Nov 10 2010 - 2:30pm by Richard Sharp

Have you noticed an extra icon on your Google homepage today? A small magnifying glass now sits on the right hand side of Google instant search results – giving an instant preview of a website. The service is rolling out over 40 countries in the next few weeks but has already officially landed in some parts of the UK.

When users click on the magnifying/eye glass a screenshot of the website is shown without the need to even visit the site – hence the name ‘Instant Previews’. Users can also use the right arrow key to perform the same task as their mouse button, another feature to increase speed.

The main aim of Instant preview is to improve people’s satisfaction with their search results. Product manager for Google, Raj Krishnan said “In our testing, we’ve found that people who use Instant Previews are about 5 per cent more likely to be satisfied with the results they click,”

“The previews provide new ways to evaluate search results, making you more likely to find what you’re looking for on the pages you visit.”

If you are yet to experience Google instant, you can watch the demo video below or visit the Google instant test page to try it out for yourself.

Do you think this will make you more satisfied with search results?

Leave A Response