Google "Simple Search" - New Search Refinement Option?

Nov 22, 2023 - 7:41 am 105 by
Filed Under Google

Baby Computer Google Logo

Google may be testing a new "Simple Search" feature that may dumb-down the search results when you want something more simple. Google shows the "Simple Search" +Topics refinement button at the top of the mobile and desktop results, when tapped on, it readjusts the results to give you a different set of results.

Here is a screenshot from @dansully, he sent me more photos similar to what he posted on X:

Google Simple Search On2

At first I thought maybe it was some weird refinement option Google was showing Dan but I spoke to Dan and walked through more examples and it worked for other unrelated queries:

Google Simple Search Off

Then turned on simple search:

Google Simple Search On

Plus, I cannot replicate this at all, either on desktop or mobile but Dan can.

Can you replicate this?

What do you think "Simple Search" is and does?

Forum discussion at X.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google

Google Sued SerpApi Over Scraping Search Results

Dec 19, 2025 - 3:50 pm
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: December 19, 2025

Dec 19, 2025 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Core Update Status, Gemini 3 Flash In AI Mode, Optimizing For AI Search & Bug Fixes Galore

Dec 19, 2025 - 8:01 am
Google

Google Product Reviews Bug On Product Detail Pages

Dec 19, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google

Google Search Testing New Sports Features

Dec 19, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Tests Video Assets From Merchant Center

Dec 19, 2025 - 7:31 am
 
Previous Story: Google Ads Business Name & Logo Account-Level Automated Assets Live