Google is changing search. And not for the better!
Google dominates the web search space, but the recent choices made by the internet giant on the user interface aren't being appreciated by many. Case in point: The changes Google has made to the search result page; it has added elements that have made the search experience more cluttered (and annoying) than before. Here's all you need to know about it.
What Google has done to search UI?
As many of you may have already noticed, Google has tweaked certain elements on the desktop version of search results. For one, it now shows favicons (brand logos) for all the sites that get listed on the results page. Then, the URL of the indexed pages also appears on top of page titles - as a separate element - instead of the bottom.
URL colors have also been changed
Along with the position of the URL, Google has also changed its color from regular green to a more obtrusive black, which doesn't appear to mix well with the interface.
Now, this is unnecessary clutter for users
The move to add website icons on top of complete URLs and page titles doesn't appear to bode well with the users. In fact, it is exactly opposite of what Google has been offering until now - a clean interface. There is just too much clutter on the results page, which, frankly speaking, doesn't improve the user experience and seems like an unnecessary change.
Google says the change will help users determine information source
In the post announcing the roll-out of this change, Google claimed that the newly added icons will help users be sure about where the information they are about to check is coming from. "The format puts a site's brand front & center, helping searchers better understand where information is coming from, more easily scan results & decide what to explore," the company stated.
How you can revert to the icon-less look, though?
Having said that, Google clearly appears to be moving away from the clean and minimalistic results page it once became popular for. However, if you want to get rid of these icons and go back to the old look, install an adblocker extension capable of blocking elements in websites and add custom filters (https://tinyurl.com/wh6b7bq) in its settings to remove the favicons and the URLs.
