How in the Tech

Bringing back the old style Google search page

By Adam Myers ⋅ May 10, 2010 ⋅ Tags: Google

Last week Google rolled out their most radical redesign of their search page yet – which to  be fair, being Google it’s not a drastic overhaul. The new interface includes a navigation-like sidebar down the left hand side of your search results which provides functionality to filter or otherwise narrow down your search results. While the actual functionality is nothing new, it does bring it to the fore-front for users who were otherwise unaware of the features.

The change is significant to Google’s general style of keeping things plain and simple. If anything, it may be a sign that Google is fearing it’s users aren’t able to find their desired results as quickly as before – therefor necessitating the requirement of pushing the filter mechanisms right to the main page. This is simply my personal theory, and whether right or wrong, it’s irrelevant right now. The important part is I, like most, am very resistant to any type of change. The sidebar is arguably not very useful for me and tends to clash with the minimalist opinion I have of Google.

Here is how the redesign Google front page looks now. You’ll notice very little difference initial – perhaps larger fonts and buttons, and the drop-shadow is now gone from the logo. The removal of the trademark is interesting to me!

New

Old

The significant change is only unearthed on the search results page.

New

Old

Not a fan or otherwise despise change? There are a couple of options for you.

First, if you are a user of a browser that supports the user-generated Greasemonkey scripts, like Firefox or Chrome, you shouldn’t be surprised to learn that a script exists that modifies the new layout to mimic the old style – at least as it relates to the search results page. Logically titled Old Google it’s a painless way to restore the previous experience.

If you are not a Firefox or Chrome user, or perhaps do not already use the Greasemonkey extension, you can visit a version of the old Google site using a custom URL. Rather than going directly to http://www.google.com change your link to http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=all. It’s clear to me that this is a backdoor entrance that could disappear at any time, but for now it may be your best option to cling to the past; not that there is anything wrong with that!