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I just can't get over how ugly and unattractive some of the Google search results have come with the addition of the expanded local carousel.
I thought maybe I was the only one who felt it was ugly but no, many do. The reactions on Twitter, via email and now on the forums, all feel the same way. Now, I am not saying the results are not useful. They may be, but they are ugly. Perception is a key factor in relevancy.
Example searches to show you what I mean by ugly.
The other day, I searched Google for [beer] and this is what came up:
This morning, a WebmasterWorld thread said try searching for [fishing rods], heck, even advertisers are missing out from the amount of ugly on this page.
Now, the intent is good and I really think Google will be cleaning up these results to make them look cleaner and more organized in the search results. But until then, the results seem incredibly ugly to me.
Do you agree?
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
Image credit to BigStockPhoto for ugly sign
Comments:
Praveen Sharma
07/02/2013 12:40 pm
Exactly, you search for something and you are bombarded with many results from different directions and you are not sure what to look at. Then you get confused what actually you were looking for. O_o
Raidensurfer
07/02/2013 12:44 pm
Yes I have to agree. I am not a fan of this... I can't imagine my parents managing to deal with the overload. They are going to have to have a re-think.
Sundar Rawat
07/02/2013 12:52 pm
Agreed. It seems confusing at starting. When I explored it more then I found that I am reaching to website after clicking one more step. Overall this looks as Google wants more 'Page Views' on its Search pages.
Mike
07/02/2013 01:03 pm
Well said.
Mark
07/02/2013 02:46 pm
I've never seen that local results thumbnail bar before.
Durant Imboden
07/02/2013 03:06 pm
I'd use the phrase "too busy" instead of "ugly." Google's SERPs have become increasingly cluttered since the introduction of "Universal Search." Given the fact that users can personalize their settings for so many other things on Google, maybe it's time to let users select their own defaults for Web Search.
limo hire
07/02/2013 03:54 pm
yeh have to agree doesn't look too inviting :(
BDHSEO
07/02/2013 04:42 pm
Maybe it's time for Google to move on from traditional SERPS to showing previews (thumbnails) of websites in a magazine/newspaper style layout. Yes, they tried a preview version before, but lets move on to a visually attractive presentation. Searchers at least then get to see the site first. Merge some of the visual social media look and feel of Facebook and Pinterest into the results. As Matt Cutt says, build a great site. Well, come on Google. How can a searcher know its a good site, from a link. I expect this will be the direction search goes anyway, so let's get a jump start. Sometimes the old print ways, can work in the digital space.
Joe
07/02/2013 10:29 pm
Extremely cluttered and messy. What's the point of the carousal again? Why draw so much attention to the carousal by making it black and at the very top?
Alan
07/03/2013 01:00 am
I am in total agreement Barry it looks terrible. It looks like they have just decided to kludge that on top. Obviously it is part of the relevancy/keep people on Google.com strategy but they have over stepped and I think made a big mistake.
Chipi
07/03/2013 12:07 pm
Totally agree. In general, Google search results of these days are not only the ugliest and more inefficient that I have ever seen in Google history but the most BORING as well. Just try to search something about cars or vehicles. You ALWAYS get results from the SAME big brands on 1st page. If this is because of the authoritative ranking factor, sorry, but that is becoming Google terribly BORING. I never thought that one day I would have to use Bing for something, but I've begun to do it and I am very satisfied. Get deep answers in Google is getting more and more complicated and a waste of time.
Mozalami
07/03/2013 12:41 pm
Agree Google should conduct experiment in private/beta before showing so ugly SERPs
Pervez Alam
07/04/2013 04:34 am
This type of results are not coming only on "beer" or "fishing rods" keywords, and not only from June or July-2013 Months even we are seeing it more then 5-6 months. Also we are finding such type of ugly search results on maximum number of business industry keywords.
KaiFlow13
07/05/2013 02:41 am
Use bing
Bob
08/06/2013 12:03 am
Worthless and pointless.
John
02/02/2014 03:15 am
Google hires toddlers to design their stuff...
Spook SEO
02/02/2014 04:40 am
Yes, Barry I also notice this problem in Google. I'm just hoping that this problem will be fix as soon as possible so that the search results will be clean and organized.