Google eyes search result preview window Google is testing a new tool on its search monopoly that previews entire pages before you actually visit them. As revealed by the Google Operating System blog — an independent site not affiliated with Google — the web giant is experimenting with a kind of preview window that pops up when you click on an icon next to a search …
Seeing the search term in context in its containing page could have been dead useful this afternoon.
Seeing the context would have saved me loading a couple of dozen useless web pages and hunting for the search term only to find it was irrelevant.
And yes, I did consider a more precise search but there wasn't one to be had.
As someone has already pointed out, this could end up downloading and caching on my machine something I'd rather not have on there.
On the other hand, if this stops me having to load up a page that turns out to be yet another of those site scrapers or pseudo search engines that just present me with another bunch of links to click on, then it might not be all bad.
I was hoping to see small website thumbnails directly in the results like www.exalead.com/search but I guess that Google have well and truly shot themselves in the foot and made it difficult for them to implement this because of their introduction of the already bandwidth heavy Google Instant.
Bing should see this as an opportunity, and avoid a google instant approach like the plague, but go down the more visual results route with website thumbnails directly in the results.
Will Google slow down, ok Google has some interesting software but the search engine part should just be a search engine. Eventually you will stick a pad to your temple, type www.google.co.uk and it will read your mind, then you will automatically be taken to the website you want.
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