Google Search for mobile gets a makeover

In conjunction with a revamp of its web search services, Google is also streamlining its mobile search solution, promising comprehensiveness and relevance comparable to the desktop user experience. The revamped Google Search, optimized for the iPhone and Android smartphone platforms, introduces a search options menu presented to the left of the results--users can now refine their queries to include all results or limit them to news, products or updates. Results can also be formatted according to specific timeframes--e.g., latest, past 24 hours, past week, past year or specific date range.

"You may notice that when the menu expands, the search results slide off screen to the right," write Google Mobile Engineering Team members Reza Ziaei and Mike Buchanan on the Official Google Mobile Blog. "Note that you can still interact with them and see them in full just by panning to the right." Google adds that it will increase the number of search options as well as expand to more devices in the weeks ahead.

Earlier this year, mobile browser developer Opera Software reported that Google now accounts for more than 9 percent of all mobile web page views in the U.S., with its mobile search portal far outpacing rivals Yahoo (4.3 percent of all page views) and Microsoft Bing (just 0.03 percent). In all, search-portal related views make up 13.5 percent of total U.S. mobile page views, with each unique user averaging 39.9 search-based page views per month. Opera adds that Google also remains the most visited U.S. mobile website in terms of unique users--Facebook follows in second place, trailed by Yahoo, Wikipedia and MySpace.

For more on Google's mobile search revamp:
- read this Official Google Mobile Blog entry

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