Google has just splashed out on a new look for the summer.

In Google’s attempt to stay on top in the search engine wars they have changed the look and functionality available on their search results.

The search results page display has been changed. They have added search options on the left hand side of the search results. I would imagine this has been inserted so as to help Google users pinpoint the most relevant search results for them. The new design seems a bit alien to me at the moment but I am sure my eyes will adjust to this new look and added functionality.

Whether people see this as an over complication of a search display that worked or a great new feature, only time will tell.

The Change for Irish Search Results

The main thing that struck me about the design changes was that the tickbox for ‘pages from Ireland’ on the Google.ie homepage has now been removed. This is a very strange move. It can however be found in the new search options panel on the left hand side of your search results. This just seems to over complicate search for people interested in just pages from Ireland. They must search first and then adapt their search results after.

Most .ie websites would find it easier to rank highly in the pages from Ireland search results. Now that this option is not present as a tick box on the Google.ie homepage it would indicate to me that fewer people will end up using this search option. This will have effects on website performance for .ie companies. I am not saying that there is going to be a huge effect but there might be some. Only time will tell.

Some rough usage stats from a survey on Radical.ie are available below:

• Survey Amount: 700
• 64% of those using Google.ie are mainly searching using the web function
• 36% mainly search pages from Ireland

Some 2008 search stats for the UK from Hitwise (their search patterns often mimic Ireland)

Search Results – This new change seems to have effected my ranking reports which is quite annoying. The websites we work with have not lost their local rankings, but the software we use no longer picks up the search results for Google.ie pages from Ireland. One more problem we will have to fix!

So do you like Google’s new hair do?