Google Instant Previews: A Visual Search Results

With Google Instant you get results as fast as you type, but your search doesn’t stop there. Once you get results back, you choose a site to visit based on the information in each result—like the title, a snippet of text and the URL. Over time Google have made steady improvements to search results and snippets to help you pick a great page. Now they are making a leap to image-based snapshots—a new kind of visual search result is called “Instant Previews” which makes it even faster to choose the right result.

Instant Previews provides a graphic overview of a search result and highlights the most relevant sections, making finding the right page as quick and easy as flipping through a magazine. To use it, click once on the magnifying glass next to the title of any search result and a visual overview of the page will appear on the right. From there, hover your cursor over any other result to see a preview. For those of you who’ve recently stopped using your mouse to search, now you can navigate to a result, hit the right arrow key to see the preview, and hit the down arrow key to keep browsing. Here’s a video showing Instant Previews in action:

In testing, Google found that people who use Instant Previews are about 5% more likely to be satisfied with the results they click. The previews provide new ways to evaluate search results, making you more likely to find what you’re looking for on the pages you visit. Here are some of the things you can do to get the most out of Instant Previews:

• Quickly compare results - A visual comparison of search results helps you pick the one that’s right for you. Quickly flip through previews to see which page looks best.
• Pinpoint relevant content - Text call outs, in orange, will sometimes highlight where your search terms appear on the webpage so you can evaluate if it’s what you're looking for.
• Interact with the results page - Page previews let you see the layout of a webpage before clicking the search result. Looking for a chart, picture, map or list? See if you can spot one in the preview.

Instant Previews can be helpful for many kinds of tasks. For example, say you looked at a page before and need to find it again—with a preview, you can tell if any of the results look familiar. Or perhaps you’re looking for an official website—look for a logo and formal style and you’ll probably be able to identify it. Or maybe you’re looking for a how-to guide—it’s easy to spot a page with clear illustrations and step-by-step instructions.


This kind of experience would only make sense if it was lightning fast. Not long ago simply downloading an image could take 20 or 30 seconds, and even today many websites take four or five seconds to load. With Instant Previews, Google matches user's query with an index of the entire web, identify the relevant parts of each webpage, stitch them together and serve the resulting preview completely customized to your search—usually in under one-tenth of a second. Once you click the magnifying glass, It loads previews for the other results in the background so you can flip through them without waiting.

Well, I think that’s enough of a preview—soon you can try out the real thing for yourself! The new feature is rolling out now and should be available in more than 40 languages in the next few days.

Online Diwali shopping is booming

A growing number of shoppers prefer to shop online during Diwali season, a survey conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India ( ASSOCHAM).

"The most popular articles during Diwali include electronic items, gift articles, idols of gods and goddesses, sweets, flowers, clothes & jewellery and diamonds," said D.S. Rawat, secretary general, ASSOCHAM.

The number of shoppers, as well as the revenue generated, is expected to increase as well.

While about 40 lakh people logged on the net in 2007 for their Diwali shopping, and bought goods worth Rs.575 crore, the number is expected to rise to 1 crore shoppers this year, with a projected revenue of Rs.2,200 crore.

The e-shoppers are multiplying rapidly because of factors like home delivery, convenience and wide variety of products, Rawat said.

The survey also mapped the most prolific e-shopping communities. Gujaratis are leading the pack of online shoppers, followed by Maharashtrians, Sindhis and Punjabis. The percentage of South Indian shoppers is comparable to their Punjabi counterparts.

Enthused by the increasing numbers, many online retailers have announced exclusive Diwali deals. Companies like Rediff, Sify, Indiaplaza and Indiatimes have launched special shopping stores, and are enticing online buyers with gift vouchers and discounts, the survey said.

The boom is not restricted to metros alone. Tier-II cities like Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, among others, have also taken to online shopping, the survey says.The online shopping trend is increasing because the consumers and retailers both desire safe, simple and comprehensive shopping.

Around 3,000 people were surveyed in both metros and tier-II cities for the study.

Facts You Need To Know about SEO

When considering getting involved in search engine optimisation for your business, there is a massive amount of information you need to learn and understand. This can be extremely intimidating and it can be difficult for online business owners to know where to begin. However, there are some basic facts which should be known by all of those considering running a search engine optimisation campaign.

The first SEO fact of great importance is that SEO is challenging. Some of those which are new to SEO view it as a magic solution to all of their problems. They believe they will just have to follow a few simple steps and then their business will be a huge success. This is not how SEO works. Search engine optimisation is a complicated process which can rely on the use of a number of SEO techniques. These methods can be difficult and an SEO campaign does require time, hard work and effort.

The second thing you need to know is that every company requires a unique SEO campaign. Different businesses have different wants and needs and are in different circumstances. Only an SEO campaign designed to the specific requirements of a business will have any chance of success.

Only white hat search engine optimisation is helpful and acceptable. Some companies still use and encourage black hat SEO but the results of this can be disastrous. Using black hat SEO, you can severely damage your rankings and your reputation. You must only use ethical methods within your SEO campaign.

Another fact you need to know about SEO is that it does not have to cost a great deal. Many assume because SEO can be so effective that it must be expensive. This is not true. Results can be achieved with any budget. What is most important is that your SEO campaign is tailored to the needs of your business and the budget you have. Even small changes can make a difference and so are worthwhile.

The fifth SEO fact you need to know is that SEO is continuous. It can take a considerable amount of time for SEO techniques to become effective and so you must be patient. Also, important variables within search which can affect your campaign are always changing. This means your SEO campaign needs to adapt to these changes if going to remain effective.

The sixth SEO fact of great importance is that if you are not experienced and knowledgeable in SEO, you have to hire professional SEO consultants. A professional SEO campaign can make a significant difference to your chances of SEO success. SEO specialists know how to run an SEO campaign effectively and can do this for you.

At Mtrendz Consulting, we have an extensive knowledge of SEO and are highly experienced in the running of SEO campaigns. We can provide you with the information you need to develop your own understanding of SEO and so you can contribute to your campaign too. Let us run your SEO campaign and show you how effective SEO can be.