Google Search redesign forthcoming

Google has developed quite the reputation for exploring -- and then dominating -- the unknown. Google Labs has reinvented the way we tackle every mundane task in our daily lives. Whether it's Google Maps telling us where to go, Gmail helping us to remember messages from years gone by thanks to it's infinitely searchable archive, or recent additions to the Google family like Google Voice and Google Wave, both of which once again attempt to redefine how we communicate.

But what about Google Search?

After it's introduction in 1997 Google quickly rose to the top of the search engine pile, casting then-popular competitors like AltaVista and Lycos out of the public consciousness. Heck -- Google became so popular that the word is now a synonym for search. People don't "search" for things on the internet anymore, they google them. When your brand is so big that it becomes a culturally accepted verb, that's a remarkable achievement. Brands so big that they replace words only come along once in a blue moon. Coke. Xerox. Band-Aid. Google has joined a short but impressive list.

Now after 12 years, the Google Search page is getting a proper makeover that's going to streamline some of the functionality they've been trying to "band-aid" onto there over the past few years. News, photos, videos, blogs -- instead of opening up a separate page for all of Google's searchable data, you'll be able to do it all from the main search results page and filter your choices. You'll also be able to filter by time, so if you only want videos of pandas from the past 24 hours you can make that happen in seconds.

You'll also be able to filter by a host of new options like viewing results only from sites you've visited before or viewing more/less shopping sites. If you're trying to remember where you saw that picture of a squirrel kung fu fighting or where to buy your father a moustache comb just in time for the holidays, all of these new options become instantly appreciable.

There's no word yet on an official launch date, but that doesn't mean you can't get in there and check it out now. A team of crack commandos and coders at Mashable have found a way to gain access to the new Google Search a little early. For full details, be sure to check out their post HOW TO: Try out the New Google Search. And while it's not as simple as just following a link, we strongly recommend that the curious check it out. The difference is pretty staggering. It's one of those things you just have to experience to comprehends how much of an improvement it really is.

TAGS: Google, Search, Search Engine
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