Topeka's New SERP

If some of you missed it, Google's April fools joke this year was to rename their search engine Topeka which is a nod to the fact that Topeka renamed itself Google as part of their creative bid for Google fiber. I say that will be quite a consolation prize for Topeka when they lose the bid to Grand Rapids which is unarguably a cooler place.

So on the heels of that headline Google also just changed their SERP (search engine results page). I have kind of been out of it for the last couple of days, but I think it might have just been introduced. Anyways, whenever it came out, I really like the redesign. Let me show you a screeny if you are too lazy to actually perform a search yourself.

So there's your basic SERP that you will see most of the time. It's strikingly simple and elegant. My first thought, literally when I first saw it today was, “Whoa, where am I? What is this.” which is a pretty strong response versus the normal complete ambivalence towards everything except the top two organic results.

(Oh ha, I just noticed that I didn't turn my plugins off, so those stars and green check marks are not part of the redesign, and you won't see those on your screen.)

In general, this page just looks so much more attractive than it ever has before. I can't really put my finger on it but everything is just more appealing. From the glitzy, well-proportioned, brightly colored icons on the left to the dazzlingly crisp and legible query bar everything is just pumped up. I really like it.

Looking around though, I found that they have actually added some interesting usability features that I'm really excited about. Their great use of fly-open menus which allow you to easily refine your results. Some might think, well, we could do that at the top by clicking images. Yes, but now not only can you refine by media type, you can actually refine by publication method in addition. This is in my opinion an enormous leap forward and a great and timely innovation in this day of rampant microblogging. So now we can search and find things like you would find on twitter, or change to blogs, and find things like you'd find on Digg, or change to images, and find things like you'd find on flickr. That makes Google one stop shopping like it's never been.

I also wanted to see if it would still look as pretty for a search with sponsored links.

Although the sponsored links are a little annoying, I think they are much less so than they were. In doing this search and a few others, I found some things that I didn't expect. First, the default refining choices seem to be intelligently selected based on your search query. For example, in my search for temporary airbrush tattoos you see that shopping was at the top of the list just below "everything", and actually shown by default, while in my search for "Topeka" News and Maps were at the top of the list and shown by default while shopping was hidden inside the toggle-down menu.

I found a similar behavior for the filter by time criteria which seemed to be equally intelligent and just as an exciting refinement. Say for example, that I were to search for "what the maximum level for properties is in mafia wars" which I did earlier tonight, and I know that they just changed their system today, so the only relevant hits will have been published in the last 24 hours, I can skip all of the crap (which will be ranked higher for that search query) and get down to the new, hot, current stuff.

I'd love to hear what you guys think of the redesign, as all in all, I really like it. Not as much as I like Mindy and my wedding blog redesign but hey, only one person can be that awesome *wink.

PS. The RSVP form is open on our blog, so if you want to come feel free to RSVP.

3 Things that are Small

3 things that are small… well one is about as big as you can get, but it's a small change that I'm specifically talking about. How's that for a tease?

One thing that is objectively small and insignificant is this blog. Thank you for reading, but I'm only talking to six people tops; so I'm just being realistic. However, it is its complete lack of importance which makes this anomaly so interesting. Actually, if my blog was huge, this occurrence would not surprise me at all. This occurrence - the fact that someone actually found my blog through the following search phrase "don't let your mouth make promises." Not only that but for that search phrase (including quotations), I hold the TOP TWO LISTINGS in google.

Look at what I beat! Google's own books.google listing. How about that. What's more, that post is only about two weeks old.

Now, for me, this means nothing. But it is a proof of concept, that we can still make a mark on the world and that in some ways the internet is still the wide open. The same sort of thing happened to Chad a while back he was top dog for the search phrase "sa rnr" (San Antonio Rock and Roll marathon) and generated traffic on account of that search term. It's very cool and some special feeling to be tops on google (even for something admittedly stupid).

The second small item, I would say is even more amazing. Watch this video from a story called "It's a Small, Small World" which was featured on ABC World News Tonight. You absolutely will not believe this video.

Now the third small item, is a small change that got sneaked in with the massive redesign to youtube and google reader unveiled today. While you might have your own feelings about the redesign (particularly the youtube one which I dislike excepting the widescreen format), you probably didn't notice that you can now officially log in to youtube using your google account. The ability to link your existing youtube account with your google account just represents one more cog in the wheel of google dominance and convenience for its users.

Google's Strat and Today's Development

I recently had a conversation with Grandpa and Uncle Tim about Google and their strategy, specifically when it comes to internet apps. I won't bore you with the long and slightly manic argument I outlined for them, but suffice to say that I think Google has decided to forsake the old model and build their own. Let's look at free mail servers as an example. Services like Hotmail and Yahoo! mail were big innovators, in the fact that they took email service out of the hands of the ISP and provided free mail service for anyone. They traded you an email account for the right to advertise to you in a captive setting. However, this trade limits inherently limits some of the features that they can provide to their customers. For example, free mail forwarding - if they forwarded my mail that was addressed to my Yahoo! account on to my Gmail account they lose their ability to advertise to me which, in their eyes, leaves them with an empty deal.

This is just one example, but I believe that Google has it's eyes on a bigger prize. Google decided that they will offer not only free online services, but they are going to provide the best, easiest, most powerful, and most compatible service that they can. And best of all, they are going to encourage you to use it however you suits you best. If that means checking your email online so that it can be surrounded by their ads (semantically targeted based on the content of your message) that's great, but if that means you check it using your third party mail client, they are fine with that too. Not only fine with it, but they will provide you with a comprehensive step-by-step tutorial on how to set it up and get the most out of it. Why would they do this. Because what they want more than you seeing their ads, Google wants to become an such an integral part of using the internet that you don't even notice. They want to own your internet experience, and they are not going to even ask you for it. They are setting up a world where it is in our best interest to lay it at their feet, and thank them profusely for the right.

Let's look at what I mean, when I use email, I use Gmail. When I make a schedule, I use Google Calendar, when I read blogs, I use Google Reader, when I want to get an answer, I use Google search, when I want to communicate, I increasingly use Google Talk, when I write a blog, I use Blogspot (a Google product), when I need to watch something, I use Youtube (a Google product), when I organize pictures on my computer, I use Picasa (a Google product), if I view any page on the internet, Google wants me to use Google Chrome as my browser… Believe me, this is VERY limited list, I could easily go on and on. I have deliberately tried to limit this to products that I use every single day. And how did they earn this right? Simple, they offer the best product out there absolutely free.

Maybe this sounds a little ominous, some of you may be saying "My gosh, it's Big Brother, I had no idea." That is not at all what I mean, I am a huge Google fan, and will continue to be, even while honestly believing that they are trying to become so intrinsically fused to our experience of the internet that we don't even think about it any more. Why am I not afraid? Because, I believe that they are giving the industry a huge kick in the pants which is currently and will continue to inspire others to explore competitive advantages in a way that benefits the customers first, not simply their immediate bottom line. Google can be the giant who inspires the man in the boy to step up with his stone and sling and take his best shot.

Wow, I guess I will bore you with the bulk of my argument. Sorry for that, but their strategy is so inspired, I love to tear into it.

Finally here's the reason I was actually inspired to write this blog

Google just did something that I find exceptionally unusual even for them. Not only is my Gmail account fabulous because of it's unprecedented compatibility and ease of use, they just delivered creative and appealing themes for spicing up your gmail service. Today they were blogged about on the Google Blogoscope here, and I'm crediting them because I want to steal their pictures. Note that a few of these themes are actually dynamic meaning that their appearance is conditional, for example, Mindy's favorite, the beach theme is a nighttime scene in our nighttime hours, and bright and beautiful during the day.

If you would like to add one of these great new themes to your Gmail account simply log in and go to settings. There you'll see a themes tab on the right. Pick the one you like and let it rip.

As a post script other Google products that have occurred to me as I finished this blog

• Directions - Google Maps
• Internet statistics - Google Analytics
• Office suite - Google Docs
• Internet photo albums - Picasa web albums
• Advertising (TV also now) - Google Adwords
• Watching TV - Google TV (currently in very limited beta)
• As you think of more, feel free to add them in the comments section