The Evolution of Search

Google is now inviting and conditioning users to check out the featured content, effectively drawing their attention away from other components of the SERP like organic listings and potentially even text ads.

Components of the design changes included the following:

• consistent design across desktop, tablets and mobile devices;
• relocation of search tools and options to the horizontal bar above results; and
• introduction of what I'm calling the "feature area."

In a beautifully coordinated effort by Google, this new design represents the culmination of superior technologies that allow a seamless and consistent user experience. Google has a variety of effective tools it can use to populate this area, from Knowledge Graph, Google Maps or PLAs. And like so many things in the search industry, the more success it has, the sooner it will have company. Bing recently announced a similar strategy of its own.