How to improve Google

Welcome to the second article in a new series of 'How to improve'. In this series, I review various technology services and platforms and suggest how I would improve their offering, either in terms of user experience (UX) of the service or analysis of strategic direction.

Last time out I reviewed Optimizely. This time I'm tackling a tech giant - Google (in particular: Google Search).

Who are Google?

Really? Okay... If we must do this!

Google is a company which accelerated its growth by offering an enhanced website search engine in 1998, with an emphasis of serving more relevant content to its users. They did this with a clean interface and simple user interface which remains to this day. 

This paid off, as every day Google answers more than one billion search queries from people around the globe in 181 countries and 146 languages. 

Google's market capacity is around $167b. Google was ranked the 6th best place to work by Forbes in 2015. Google's mission is to organise the world's information and make it more accessible.

What is my verdict of Google search?

I couldn't even guess how many times I've used it and have also used it many times even just to create this article. That hopefully speaks volumes.

Google is well and truly integrated into many people's lives, multiple times on a daily basis. I share their approach when it comes to products and software; 'offer services free, monetise later'. Many other companies have adopted this approach successfully.

Google is so commonly used, their brand has surpassed the function: people say 'Google it' rather than 'Search it'. 

I'm not so naive to believe they are perfect. They have been called up on possible page rank manipulation and misuse of search results. They have also had numerous issues with privacy being brought into question.

Google are huge. They know what they are doing, but their service isn't perfect. Here's my areas for optimisation;

Improvement

1. Cookie message

When you visit Google as a first time visitor (which is what I'm doing here), the cookie message has it's own line. It probably doesn't need to as it adds more dreary grey into Google's classic white clean space. The blue call to action button also competes with other more important content on the page.

Improvement - Consider moving the cookie message into the bar above it (possibly in the centre, where the space is currently). Also change the blue 'Got it' button to a ghost button, to minify any potential distraction.

2. Microphone Icon

I'm very intrigued to know what % of Google's searches are voice from non-mobile devices. I understand it may be a useful feature for mobile devices, but I'm not convinced that it's a great idea to locate the voice icon inside the search bar. It is conventional to place a search icon to the far right of a search bar. Placing the microphone makes users stop in their tracks, assess that the icon doesn't complete their intended action, scan the page for alternatives and hit enter/'google search'. It's just a small addition of unnecessary think time.

Improvement - Swap microphone for a search icon. Consider only showing the icon on mobile devices (not all PCs will have a mic setup). 

3. Google Search button 

When a user clicks on Google Search without a query in the search bar, there is no validation to let the user know what needs doing. The button is simply highlighted blue and that's it.

I know most of the world knows Google and how it works, but this is against best practice and there are always first visits to Google who may think they need to click there to initiate a Google search.

Improvement - When the button is clicked, why not highlight the search form, or put some helpful text inside the search bar, Eg; 'type what you are looking for here' etc. Alternatively, if nothing is entered into the search box and this button clicked, Google could take the user to a random (or sponsored) article, much like Wikipedia does with their 'Featured Article'. 

4. I'm feeling lucky (part 1/3)

I'm personally not a fan of the Google 'I'm feeling lucky' button. Google's research showed them that, even though not many visitors use this feature, users preferred it on the page because it was familiar and it's comforting for the user to see it. Removing it may therefore break visitor's trust. 

Fine. I get that. There is still opportunity here though. If you click on the button with nothing in the search box, it takes the users to Google Doodle.

Improvement - If nothing is entered into the search bar and the user clicks on 'I'm feeling lucky', Google could take the user to an article such as Wikipedia do in their featured article. This article could be sponsored (a great monetisation opportunity) and if the user is signed in, it could also be highly targeted.

5. I'm feeling lucky (part 2/3)

More advice on this button... The button is reads 'I'm feeling lucky'. There is so much opportunity here.

Improvement - add functionality so that, when the user hovers over the button for over a second, a drop down list could appear. Picture it; 

I'm feeling <hungry> (directed to local takeaways and restaurants)

I'm feeling <Adventurous> (directed to activities in your area)

etc etc

6. I'm feeling lucky (part 3/3)

I'm not done with this button yet! (Can you tell I don't like it?). Ever since the creation of Google Instant, 'I'm feeling lucky' is largely redundant, as the user is taken to a search result page as soon as they type anyway. Sergey Brin predicted that 1% of users take advantage of the lucky button and that it cost Google over $110m in lost revenue as a result of users no longer seeing search result pages.

Improvement - If the button is redundant since Google Instant, show the button when Google doesn't produce search results during Google Instant (see below). I needed to click the search icon/press enter to show results, which is exactly what Google Instant and the lucky button should solve. Maybe Google didn't show any results because they don't share my opinion of this button...

7. Search result page white space

When users search the web for really amazing content, Google serves this page back. We've all got used to it, but come on Google, you can do better. Why is the content so left aligned when the Search page has centre alignment? Can your excellent minds not come up with a more effective way to use the space?

Improvement - The page above can be a lot better designed. Make use of the space on the right. One idea is for the space on the right to update with information as the visitor hovers over a link in the list of results.

8. Search Page Navigation

I love many of the services Google offer (see some int he list below). Every user shouldn't have the same navigation menu, as some will want quick access to YouTube for example, rather than Image search. 

Improvement - Allow the user to add their own navigation, based upon Google's services. Allow the user to have many links along the header if they please, rather than just 2. 

9. Paid Advertising

Google... come on... this is aggressive. Only 2 results below are organic, with masses of space to the right. I also notice that the only advert which has enhanced functionality is from Google... is that fair?

Improvement - Why does Google show so many adverts if they are based upon the pay per click ('PPC') model? Google should do a better job of using what data they have on the user to serve fewer adverts, which are more relevant to the user. Econsultancy reported that users only click on paid adverts 6% of the time (organic 94%). This means Google is knowingly serving a staggering amount of adverts to their audience which are highly likely not interested in adverts.

10. Logged In Navigation

When you are logged in to Google you're name (which used to be Google+) is on the far left, but your profile picture is on the far right. This doesn't follow a structured logic.

Improvement - Keep related content next to each other. 

11. Notifications

If the user has no notifications, why show it as a big greyed out icon? This is a poor use of space.

Improvement - as per above, Google could get rid of the big grey icon altogether and display notifications near the profile pic. Currently if you click on your profile pic Google returns account options. This functionality could stay the same, but it you hover the profile picture the notifications could display in a light box (as nothing currently happens when the user hovers). Or, when the visitor clicks on the icon, you can show notifications and account options. 

 

Strategy

1. Get more of the third world connected

This should be Google's number one priority. Many would be Google users don't own a computer device, or don't have internet access. I know these markets are technically less valuable to Google than others, but ensuring everyone can access data is part of Google's mission. 

2. Bringing Data to Companies

Google could do a much better job of working with companies and the highstreet when it comes to the data they possess and the insights that companies need. Google are starting to introduce cool features like showing users queue times at local stores. This gets companies focused on using technology to improve poor store experience.

3. Help businesses with mobile and multichannel

With some reports stating that mobile accounts for 60% of web traffic, it's clear to see that businesses need to do more to focus on providing an optimised mobile experience to their users. Google should be more approachable to companies who need support doing this. Things such as letting visitors know on Google search results whether the product they searched for is in stock and when it'll be ready to collect etc.

4. Help businesses with personalisation

 Maybe, it's not all about mobile and multichannel. There are many benefits to providing a personalised experience. Google has so much data about its visitors that they could do a better job of passing this to the forefront of businesses.

 

10 Google facts you might not know

1. Google got its name by accident. The founders misspelled the word “googol,” which refers to the number 1 followed by 100 zeroes. The word was chosen to reflect the company’s goal of organizing the massive mound of information that is available on the Internet.

2. The Google home page is so sparse because the founders did not know HTML and just wanted to create a quick interface.

3. At first, there was not even a “submit” button. Users had to hit the “return” key to generate a Google search.

4. Google’s search technology is called 'PageRank'. It assigns an “importance” value to each page on the Web and gives it a rank. That is not why the technology is called PageRank. In fact, it is named after Google co-founder Larry page.

5. Google’s traffic doubled when they introduced their “Did you mean…” feature. This feature was made possible by a much-improved spell checker.

6. The “I feel lucky” button is almost never used. However, in trials it was discovered that users saw it as a comfort button and did not want it removed.

7. Brin and Page would hang out at the Stanford computer science department’s loading docks in hopes of borrowing newly-arrived PCs to use in their network.

8. Google’s first data center was Larry Page’s dorm room.

9. When Page and Brin tried to find buyers to license their search technology, one portal CEO told them “As long as we’re 80 percent as good as our competitors, that’s good enough. Our users don’t really care about search.”

10. The first major investor Andy Bechtolsheim on of the founders of Sun Microsystems wrote a cheque for $100,000 after seeing a quick demo. At first, there was no way to deposit the $100,000. It was made out to “Google Inc.,” but there was no legal entity with that name. The cheque sat in Page’s desk drawer for two weeks while he and Brin rushed to set up a corporation and locate other investors.

 

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Over to you!

As always, it's your turn - Do you have any ways you would improve Google Search? 

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• How to get insight quickly using Google Analytics
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• How to use data to improve customer experience online