Google testing features with major implications for clicks

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Google Testing a Feature with Major Implications for Clickthroughs Google Might Make Web Design More Important

31 comments Thursday, October 7, 2010 ViewComments By Chris Crum 8 Buzz This

Google is apparently testing a feature in its search results pages that allows users to see full-page previews of sites before they click through to them. 

Patrick Altoft at BlogStorm spotted the test, providing the screenshot below and saying, "One of the fascinating things about this is that they are highlighting certain sections of the page in orange and expanding the text to provide a snippet of information. This shows that they have the technology to know exactly where a piece of text is on every single web page. The snippets highlighted are not always the same as the snippet in the search results."

Do you think this feature will make a good site design more critical? Share your thoughts.

 
Image credit: Patrick Altoft at BlogStorm

It's worth noting, as Altoft points out, that not all previews display the full page, as some longer pages are cut off at the bottom. 

While this may not be a widely released feature yet (and it's possible that it won't be), it's interesting to see just how much Google has changed the search experience this year, just from the desktop. In the Spring, Google rolled out the left panel navigation. More recently, they introduced Google Instant. Those are the major changes, though there have been other smaller ones sprinkled in among them.

That doesn't include the ways Google is changing the way we search on mobile devices with things like Voice Search and Google Goggles (not to mention Google TV). 

If the preview feature goes on to become a full-fledged feature, I'm going to have to consider that a major one. This could dramatically affect clickthroughs, for better or for worse. We'll really get to see how big a part web design plays in conversions at that point. It's conceivable that consumers will be drawn even more to well-known brands and familiar layouts. 

Late last year, Google released a tool called Browser Size that shows you how others view your site. More specifically, it shows you the percentages of people that will see certain portions of your site without having to scroll. This shouldn't really have much affect on the full-page previews in SERPs, but it can come in handy for when the user clicks through.

We've reached out to Google for more information on the preview feature. We'll update when we get more info. 

Update: Google gave us the classic response: "At any given time we are running between 50-200 search experiments. You can learn more on our blog."

Are you concerned about what the feature will do to your clickthroughs? Comment here. 

News Tags: Search, Google, SEO, SERPs, redesigns, clickthroughs About the author:
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter.Twitter: @CCrum237 By Guest (WPN reader) - Wed, 10/06/2010 - 12:11 Once again Google doing

Once again Google doing everything they can to keep the users on their side. They did the same with images. Websites can only make money on pageviews.

I find it fascinating that a company who's sole mission is to get people to other destinations does everything in their power to limit it as much as possible.

By Chris Crum - Wed, 10/06/2010 - 12:14 RE:

Depending on how information is presented on a site, it could help drive clickthroughs though, no?

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