Google's uncluttered interface is so well known on the Internet that it has imitators. So why would the search engine giant change its home page? Well, it's not changing its home page per se; it's allowing its users to customize the home page with the information they want to see whenever they visit. It's easy for users to do -- and there are some good reasons for Google to offer this option.
Google’s well-deserved reputation for delivering relevant search results encourages millions of users to visit the search engine whenever they want to find something on the Web. Nevertheless, when I compare the major search engines, I can’t help imagining their respective home pages, and seeing a more immediately noticeable difference between them. Google greets visitors to its home page with a far less cluttered interface. Yahoo’s and MSN’s home pages are so cluttered that it is hard to imagine them fitting even one more item in with the rest.
In contrast, Google’s interface takes up so little room that most users do not need to scroll down to see the entire page. I say “most users” only because I have never used Google from a mobile device, so I can’t speak from experience. This clean, Spartan-looking home page encourages visitors to simply perform their searches and get on with what they want to do online. It may not be “sticky” in the usual sense, but it gets the job done, and it has differentiated Google from nearly every other search engine since it first appeared on the Web.
I mention all this so that you will understand why a new feature that appeared in Google Labs in late May strikes a number of observers as quite a departure. Simply labeled “Personalize Your Homepage,” it allows users to change what they see when they visit the search engine. Users can add stock market figures, weather, and a variety of other items to their personal view of Google’s interface. With this feature, in other words, you can make the Google home page look more like an Internet portal –- or more like Yahoo and MSN.
Why is Google doing this? The company made its name with one of the sparest interfaces on the Internet. Does it make sense to mess with something that works? In this case, it quite possibly does. But before I get into that, let’s take a look at how the new feature works.
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