Google search changes – bug or experiment?

If you're a keen Google user, you may have noticed something different about it recently. For a couple of weeks, the search facility between its different sections – Web, News, Maps, etc. – stopped being connected via its top navigation bar. But was this an error, or a deliberate experiment? And how have users reacted?

From the beginning, several frustrated discussions unfolded across Google's help forums, but Google itself has not yet released an official statement*.

We're all rather familiar with the basic idea. Typing a search term into Google – for example, 'Manchester restaurants' – reveals the web search results for that term. But then, historically, if the user clicked on 'Maps' or 'News' along the top of the page, specific results would display for the same search term. However, this changed during November 2011, 'resetting' the search in some sections.

The route to Maps has now been restored – but News remains disconnected*.

Okay, so Google's fiddled with a few things. Why is that such a big deal?

Two main points have mystified users:

1. Inconsistency. The function has worked for some sections while not working for others.


2. Lack of resolution. If it is an error, why has a technical giant like Google taken so long to sort it out? And if it is an intentional change, why not confirm it?

Mixed messages

The issue seems to have started on Friday, 11 November, when a user named 'redsoxers' took to Google's help forums with a post entitled 'Google Search Broken'. Several people followed suit.

On 16 November, a Google employee known as 'Sarah_Me' replied with: "Thanks for your details in reporting. This is a known issue now that we are working to fix."

By 19 November, a different message was emerging from the Google camp – this time from 'Erik AS', who said: "We're constantly running experiments and making changes to the interface of Google products to improve the user experience."

Both were marked as 'best answer' in their forum threads, despite gaining more negative responses than positive in the helpful answer response system.

There is what Google terms a 'workaround' – which is that the same search query can be activated in different sections using the navigation bar on the left-hand side instead. However, this doesn't take account of users' historical Google search habits – ones which they are especially unlikely to break if the old way is still partly functional, as noted with regard to Images; and now Maps.

It is also not likely to reassure businesses who rely on Google traffic to search results such as their Places listings, often found via Maps – which was disconnected for half of November. When users don't get what they want when acting by habit, they may not bother trying again.

As recently as 27 November, user 'jlouderb' posted: "I'm no Bing fan, but Bing keeps the search term and my search habits are so ingrained I'm off there for a bit. PLEASE PUT IT BACK GOOGLE!"

The root of the problem is that change in any form creates anxiety, especially when it happens to something that people regard as integral to their lives.

People trust Google to return the results they are looking for in a way that they are comfortable with – and when that is altered without explanation, it can be very unsettling.

[*At the time of publication.]

Liane Baddeley

theEweekly Wrap: Sarah Palin, COD and Onions

The power of suggestion

The Ballymascanlon Hotel defamation case was resolved out of court this week on undisclosed terms. The Irish hotel brought a defamation lawsuit against Google in June 2011 for allowing the word 'receivership' to appear in Autocomplete suggestions, implying the business was in trouble. TheJournal.ie reported that a payment was not made, and Google has not agreed to remove any terms from Autocomplete. Google released a statement commenting: "Google does not manually select these terms, and all of the millions of queries shown in Autocomplete have been typed previously by other Google users." Just as one controversy appears to be resolved, another has surfaced. The Washington Post reported this week that searching for 'Is Sarah Palin retired?' would return the result 'Did you mean: Is Sarah Palin retarded?'. The suggested correction was removed on Tuesday, although it and several similar options still appear in the Autocomplete results. Google is famed for its Easter eggs and search pranks, which have in the past included manipulation of search results, but the company denied any part in this particular suggestion.

COD in the Commons

A debate in the House of Commons has arisen this week over the popular video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Labour MP Keith Vaz has tabled a motion condemning the game, saying he is "deeply concerned" about the violent content. His aim is to persuade the British Board of Film Classification to take "further precautions" with Call of Duty and similar games. Vaz has been campaigning against violence in video games since February 2004, when the murder of a teenage boy was linked to a violent game. Police later dismissed this claim. Following Vaz's motion against Call of Duty, MP Tom Watson came to the game's defence. He added an amendment to the motion, drawing attention to the fact that the BBFC had given the game an 18 rating, and had ruled that the controversial London Underground mission "bore no resemblance" to the July 7th 2005 terrorist attacks. He added: "There may be disturbing or unsettling content in that game, but adults should have the choice as to whether they want to play those sorts of games or not." Only 9 MPs have so far backed Vaz's concerns.

Amazon-onymous

An unlikely use was found for the Amazon Cloud service this week, as a bridge to a secret network. The Onion Router (Tor) Project is a non-profit organisation that aims to create an anonymous layer to the internet, allowing private communication and browsing that cannot be tracked. It will do this by "bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world". Now, developers working on the Tor Project have urged these volunteers to set up relays in the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, using the anonymous bandwidth it provides to set up bridges to the network, that will "improve the safety and speed at which users can access the Internet". Tor hopes its service will be of use to those interested in confidentiality, including the military and business strategists, as well as activists who want to avoid censorship; it receives much of its funding from the US government. Amazon has not commented on this potential use for its Cloud.

theEweekly Wrap: Rush hour, Orange and Google X

Broadband demand

A study from comparison site Uswitch has revealed the peak times for broadband usage in the UK. The so-called broadband rush hour occurs between 7pm and 9pm, after most people get home from work. The time of lowest usage is between 2am and 3am. The study revealed that broadband speeds during rush hour are 35 per cent lower than the off-peak level, meaning many users could believe their broadband runs slower than it actually does. This drop is more pronounced in some areas, with Weston-super-Mare and Evesham in Worcestershire enduring speeds more than 60 per cent slower in the evenings. The problem was particularly bad in rural areas, where the average speed is lower to begin with. The BBC reported that "from April next year providers will no longer be able to advertise maximum speeds for net packages unless 10% of customers receive them", under new rules from the Committee of Advertising Practice. Earlier this year, Virgin Media's 'Stop the Broadband Con' advertising campaign was stopped by the ASA for making "comparisons with identifiable competitors".

Orange aims low

Orange has partnered with Alcatel One Touch to launch three new mobile devices aimed at the developing world, said to be the first smartphones for under €100. The 908F has a full touch screen and will cost around £85; the 813F looks a little like a BlackBerry and will cost around £50; finally, the 585F (pictured) is a fully functioning smartphone with Qwerty keyboard for a stunning £34. The phones will be available in 2011 and early 2012 in Armenia, Botswana, Cameroon, France, Ivory Coast, Mali, Morocco, Mauritius, Moldova, Niger, Poland, Reunion, Romania, Senegal, Spain, Tunisia and Uganda - countries that have thus far seen limited smartphone uptake. Perhaps the most interesting feature of these new devices is deep Facebook integration, including a big blue F button on each of the handsets. Furthermore, while Orange is rolling out bargain monthly calls and data plans to go with the phones, connecting with Facebook will be free and unlimited. As Mashable pointed out, this "positions Facebook as the de facto portal and lifeline to messaging, information and community" for a market of potentially millions of people. Yves Maitre, senior VP of mobile multimedia and devices at Orange, said: "We feel strongly that it is Orange's role to enable customers to enjoy a digitally rich, connected life."

The other Google Labs

Sources at Google have apparently confirmed that the company has a secret development lab, referred to as Google X. The New York Times published a special report this week detailing the special facility in California's Bay Area, with several spokespeople - who of course wanted to remain anonymous - detailing the weird and wonderful experiments taking place within. The lab's engineers are researching a list of "100 shoot-for-the-stars ideas"; rumours include elevators to outer space, robot avatars, and kitchen appliances remotely controlled via the web. The NYT also reported that the Google self-driving car (pictured with Brin, Page and Schmidt), born in the Google X labs and unveiled in 2010, could soon be manufactured on a commercial scale. Earlier this year the online Google Labs was shut down, much to the chagrin of the tech world. However, if these reports are true, it seems the fabled 20 per cent time is still being put to good use.

Google+ Pages – can they crack the business profile challenge?

A few months after Google+ first appeared for individuals, its Pages for businesses have arrived. Some brands, such as fashion house Burberry and car manufacturer Toyota, have dived straight in – whereas others are being more cautious and hanging back to see how well it works.

It is easy to understand why the latter group may do this. Businesses which have taken the time to create and maintain accounts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn could probably all list ways in which they'd like them to improve – so they want to know whether Google+ is worth diverting their existing social media resources. Some just don't want the extra hassle.

The form of companies' online presences inhabits a wide spectrum. In 2011, some type of internet identity is taken for granted. Every brand has one (aside from, perhaps, that cluttered, dusty little shop in every town which sells a strange mix of hardware, fishing nets and discount toiletries. It's a fair bet they haven't bothered).

In the old days of internet marketing, it was a simple case of having a company website – a reference point to establish official information and aid sales. People quickly realised that as well as providing a reassuring sense of legitimacy for consumers who already know your company exists, a website can also be an excellent magnet for digital passing trade. Hello, SEO.

This more assertive approach has evolved to include interactivity. Business people who used to rely on their annual print advert in Yellow Pages now recognise that they are also likely to find an audience via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, allowing them to converse and respond to fast-changing priorities.

'Public identity and presence'

So, what does the latest business profile tool, Google+ Pages, bring to the table?

The company's own description states: "Google+ Pages provides businesses, products, brands and organisations with a public identity and presence on Google+."

Companies can present information about their services and share images, links and videos with Google+ users who follow them. This process seems to work smoothly, despite depending on circles of people switching to Google+ when Facebook is already so ingrained in their lives.

But what about the 'public' bit? Most companies will wonder whether it also helps market the business outside the world of Google+.

One of the more interesting developments is Direct Connect. This will mean that once a business has created a Google+ Page, searchers will be able to find it by typing '+company name' into Google, making a link to the page appear immediately via predictive search (see image, below). Clicking on this will lead directly to the page. It is currently being trialled using a small selection of brands.

However, as many people still habitually rely on traditional search results pages, this might be a little unreliable. It also assumes the user already has an inclination towards finding the company, so mostly helps well-known brands.

Lack of joined-up thinking

Indeed, there are several aspects of Google+ Pages that don't work quite the way you might expect.

Large companies are likely to have several employees who need to be involved in maintaining online profiles – and yet Google+ Pages are managed from singular personal accounts. Competitions and promotions are prohibited. This seems to indicate that Google+ Pages is aimed at smaller, independent companies – but it doesn't really seem very well-devised for those, either.

A friend of mine who runs his own business is a little confused. Having created the page through his personal Google+ profile, he had trouble finding it again – which, for a marketing tool, is not a good start. A week after its inception, it doesn't appear in Google's standard search results and it isn't possible to create a bespoke URL. These are disadvantages compared with Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

There is also no apparent connection to Google Places or Google Analytics – which is strange, as these two features are already extremely popular with businesses. Wouldn't it make sense for Google+ Pages to be designed to appeal to these existing customers?

It seems unlikely that a historically inventive global giant such as Google could have overlooked such obvious options. This suggests that either there is a reason they haven't been included, or they plan to bring them in once they see how successful the initial take-up is.

If it's the latter, Google is in danger of neglecting the notion that web users like quick results.

Liane Baddeley

theEweekly Wrap: Google+ Pages, Flash and Angry Birds

Google+5 months= Pages

Almost five months after the beta launch of its new social network, Google has finally got round to introducing Google+ Pages. No-one's quite sure what took them so long, but what is certain is that businesses are at last able to set up official accounts on Google+. It wasn't that long ago that Google was actively deleting profiles that had been set up by companies to gain a foothold on the platform, so this is certainly a step in the right direction. Predictably, there have already been a number of complaints about how the Google+ Pages have been implemented. These range from simple things such as the lack of multi-user functionality and the inability to create user-friendly URLs (you can find Google's page at https://plus.google.com/116899029375914044550/posts) to more fundamental questions such as what companies should actually be posting on there in the first place.

Flash in the pan

Adobe has conceded defeat in its bid to make Flash the dominant platform for watching videos on mobiles. In an official Adobe blog post, the company revealed that it would no longer develop Flash Player to be compatible with new mobile device configurations, such as those with the latest chipsets, browsers or operating systems. Explaining the u-turn, Adobe stated that because HTML5 is now universally compatible with the major mobile devices, it has become "the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms". Arguably, the company never recovered from its very public spat with Apple. Flash has always been barred from iPhones and iPads, with late CEO Steve Jobs famously writing an open letter criticising Flash as unreliable and an unnecessary drain on battery life. When Microsoft then followed suit, overlooking the platform for its browser on the new Windows 8, the writing was on the wall.

Angry Birds on Fire

Angry Birds will be one of thousands of apps available on the new Kindle Fire. Amazon has unveiled a long list of launch partners for its flagship tablet, including Angry Birds maker Rovio Mobile, EA, Zynga, Gameloft and PopCap. The tablet will also feature a range of social apps (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) and media streaming apps (Netflix, Rhapsody and Pandora). The Kindle Fire is widely seen as Amazon's attempt to tackle the iPad head-on. Whereas previous Kindles have been marketed primarily as e-book readers, the Kindle Fire is being promoted as a device for enjoying videos, songs and games. Given all that, the addition of the most celebrated gaming app of all time may turn out to be a shrewd move.

theEweekly Wrap: AOL, bugs and Christmas shopping

Can ads save AOL?

AOL has announced its earnings for Q3 2011, and seems to be faring better than expected. The total revenue of $532 million (£333m) has decreased 6 per cent compared to the same quarter in 2010, but is still well above what most analysts predicted. The same goes for Q3 net loss, at £1.6m the situation may not be as bad as many had feared, especially as AOL invested around £81m in buying back shares after their stock hit an all-time low in August. Chief executive Tim Armstrong described the quarter as "the lowest rate of decline in five years". Most surprising however is the revelation that AOL experienced an 8 per cent surge in ad revenues compared to the same period in 2010, earning almost £200 million in three months. Of course, in the past 12 months AOL acquired the Huffington Post and TechCrunch, both of which would conceivably boost display ad income, despite there being no improvement in traffic. The company has also recently been linked to a potential buyout of ailing search engine Yahoo, although Armstrong told AllThingsD on Wednesday: "When I think about our company and where our future is, it's really as an independent entity."

Gfail

Google released their long-awaited Gmail app for iOS this week, only for it to be withdrawn a few hours later. The app would have allowed iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch owners to access Gmail through a native app rather than through their browser, but displayed an error message when launched. The @Gmail Twitter account revealed: "The iOS app we launched today contained a bug with notifications. We have pulled the app to fix the problem. Sorry we messed up." The online version of Gmail has also undergone a makeover this week. Improvements have been made to the search function and navigation, while conversation threads have been streamlined and now feature profile pictures, creating the feel of a messenger rather than an email client. The general look can be customised with HD themes, while there are new layout density options of comfortable, cosy or compact. Users will be offered the switch over the next few days, but both versions will be available for a while yet.

London's browsing

26 new wi-fi hotspots are being launched in central London to provide free browsing. Mobile manufacturer Nokia has teamed up with Spectrum Interactive to switch on the hotspots, which are located on old phone boxes around London's main retail areas, including Oxford Street. The free wi-fi will be available until the end of the year, although the company could extend the free service in 2012 if successful. Access will be unlimited with speeds of 1Mbps, and users will be able to use Nokia's map to find their nearest hotspot to improve their wi-fi reception. It is thought the project is an attempt to generate interest in the new Nokia Lumia handsets. TheNextWeb speculated that the free wi-fi could make Christmas shopping in London less of a nightmare: "Like something you see in-store? Tap into the free WiFi and buy there and then, bypassing any horrendous queues." Of course, this advantage will only be available if the retailer has a mobile site; according to research from Virgin Media Business published this week, that's a huge 61 per cent of Oxford Street's flagship stores.