Inside Search
The official Google Search blog
Make your mark on Google with Handwrite for Mobile and Tablet Search
July 26, 2012
Unlike searching on a desktop or laptop computer, when you're searching on a touch-screen mobile device it’s often inconvenient to type. So we strive to give you a variety of ways to interact with Google, be it by
speaking your queries
,
getting results before you finish typing
, or
searching by image
. Now there’s a new way for you to interact with Google: Handwrite for web search on mobile phones and tablets.
Say you’re standing on a busy street corner, in a bumpy taxi ride, talking with a friend, or sitting on the couch with your tablet. Handwrite enables you to search by just writing letters with your finger most anywhere on your device’s screen—there’s no keyboard that covers half of the screen and no need for hunt-and-peck typing.
Getting started is easy: go to Google.com in your mobile browser, tap on “Settings” at the bottom of the screen and enable “Handwrite.”
Note that after you've saved the setting, you may need to refresh the homepage to see the feature.
On tablets, the Search settings are available as an option behind the gear icon.
Once the feature is enabled, tap the Handwrite icon on the bottom right corner of your screen to activate the writing surface. Write a few letters and you’ll see autocomplete options appear below the search box. If one of the options is what you’re looking for, just tap it to search. For longer queries, you can continue writing and use the arrows next to the autocompletions to move the right one into the search box. Since you can write anywhere, you don’t have to look back and forth repeatedly from the keyboard to the search box.
For more tips and tricks on how to use Handwrite, see our
Help Center article
. To make accessing Google.com faster, be sure to bookmark it and
add it to your home screen
.
We designed Handwrite to complement rather than replace typing: with the feature enabled, you can still use the keyboard at any time by tapping on the search box. Handwrite is experimental, and works better in some browsers than others—on Android devices, it works best in
Chrome
. For now, we’ve enabled Handwrite for iOS5+ devices, Android 2.3+ phones and Android 4.0+ tablets—in 27 languages.
Have fun with this new way of searching!
Posted by Rui Ueyama, Software Engineer
(Cross-posted from the
Official Google Blog
)
Find smarter, more comprehensive Search by Image results
July 2, 2012
Since its launch last year, people have been using
Search by Image
to do everything from tracking down the origins of old photographs to more exotic applications like
search by drawing
,
recursive search by image
, and creating
photomosaics
. To continue making Search by Image more useful, almost every week we launch changes to the algorithms that power this feature. Some of these recent changes include:
Smarter best guesses
When you search with an image, we use computer vision to try and figure out what the image represents, and then show you a “Best guess for this image.”
There are times when we may get it wrong or we won’t show any guess at all. However, we’ve made recent improvements to provide “best guesses” for more images more often and make the guesses more accurate. For instance, now you’ll see that the image above is not just a “flower,” but more specifically, that it is a
bird of paradise
, which is popular in Hawaii.
Knowledge Graph results
With the recent launch of the
Knowledge Graph
, Google is starting to understand the world the way people do. Instead of treating webpages as strings of letters like “dog” or “kitten,” we can understand the concepts behind these words. Search by Image now uses the Knowledge Graph: if you search with an image that we’re able to recognize, you may see an extra panel of information along with your normal search results so you can learn more. This could be a biography of a famous person, information about a plant or animal, or much
more
.
(Tip: In Chrome or Firefox 3.0+, images from the Knowledge Graph area can be dragged into the search box to start another search!)
More comprehensive search results
Finding more information about an image is the most common use of Search by Image. Very often this information is found on websites that contain either your image or images that look like it. We’ve made recent improvements to our freshness, so when photos of major news stories start appearing on the Internet, you can often find the news stories associated with those photos within minutes of the stories being posted. We’ve also expanded our index so you can find more sites that contain your image and information related to it.
Before, you would see only one site with this image you searched for.
Now
, you see more information and sites with that image.
Try Search by Image by simply uploading or dragging-and-dropping a photo into the search box on Google Images. You can check out our
video
for all the ways you can search using an image, and you can also download the
Chrome
or
Firefox
extensions to make searching photos from any website even easier.
Posted by Sean O’Malley, Software Engineer
Become a Google power searcher
June 26, 2012
(Cross-posted on the
Official Google Blog
)
You may already be familiar with some shortcuts for Google Search, like using the search box as a calculator or finding local movie showtimes by typing [movies] and your zip code. But there are many more tips, tricks and tactics you can use to find exactly what you’re looking for, when you most need it.
Today, we’ve opened
registration
for
Power Searching with Google
, a free, online, community-based course showcasing these techniques and how you can use them to solve everyday problems. Our course is aimed at empowering you to find what you need faster, no matter how you currently use search. For example, did you know that you can search for and read pages written in languages you’ve never even studied? Identify the location of a picture your friend took during his vacation a few months ago? How about finally identifying that green-covered book about gardening that you’ve been trying to track down for years? You can learn all this and more over six 50-minute classes.
Lessons will be released daily starting on July 10, 2012, and you can take them according to your own schedule during a two-week window, alongside a worldwide community. The lessons include interactive activities to practice new skills, and many opportunities to connect with others using Google tools such as Google Groups, Moderator and Google+, including Hangouts on Air, where world-renowned search experts will answer your questions on how search works. Googlers will also be on hand during the course period to help and answer your questions in case you get stuck.
Power Searching with Google
blends the
MOOC
(Massive Open Online Course) learning format
pioneered by Stanford and MIT
with our social and communication tools to create what we hope is a true community learning experience.
Visit the
course homepage
to learn more. By the end of this course, you'll know several new techniques that will make you a Google Power Searcher and help you find out information about whatever you can imagine—from how to prepare for a new family pet to where moss grows on Stonehenge or how to grow katniss in your garden. Sign up now!
Posted by
Terry Ednacot
, Education Program Manager
Find out what people are searching for with the updated Hot Searches list
June 12, 2012
People turn to search when they’re looking for answers and information, and sometimes what they want to know is on other people’s minds as well. You can learn a lot about what’s happening around the country or catch wind of a breaking news story by looking at what others are searching for.
With
Hot Searches
in
Google Trends
, you can see a list of the fastest rising search terms in the U.S. for a snapshot of what’s on the public’s collective mind. To create the Hot Searches list which is updated on an hourly basis, an algorithm analyzes millions of searches in the U.S. and determines which queries are being searched much more than usual.
Now, Hot Searches has gotten a refresh that makes the list of searches more visual, groups related rising search terms together and lets you see more information about those searches.
With rich images and links to related news articles, you can glance at the list and instantly get an idea of why these topics are particularly hot at the moment and click to find out more about them. Unlike the previous version of Hot Searches, which always provided 20 daily results, the new page introduces a filtering system that helps us make sure that the list includes only the truly hottest news stories of the day. Also, when a few of the fastest rising search terms refer to the same news story, such as [tony awards 2012] and [audra mcdonald], they’re now aggregated into one entry, which lists all the “Related searches” that go along with the main story. Lastly, the new list also provides an indication of how many searches have been conducted for each topic in the 24 hour period when it was trending.
To find out what the hottest searches are today, whether it’s a celebrity engagement, a sports-related shakeup or news about your favorite TV series, check out the
updated Hot Searches list in Google Trends
.
Posted by
Nimrod Tamir
, Google Trends Team
(Cross-posted on the
Official Google Blog
)
Search quality highlights: 39 changes for May
June 7, 2012
May is
often
a
big month
for
us in Search
, and 2012 has been no exception. This month we had exciting announcements including the Knowledge Graph, better search for users in mainland China, and an updated Search App for iPhone. We also released new sports features, deeper detection of hacked pages, and much more.
Here’s the list for May:
Deeper detection of hacked pages.
[launch codename "GPGB", project codename "Page Quality"] For some time now Google has been detecting defaced content on hacked pages and presenting a notice on search results reading, “This site may be compromised.” In the past, this algorithm has focused exclusively on homepages, but now we’ve noticed hacking incidents are growing more common on deeper pages on particular sites, so we’re expanding to these deeper pages.
Autocomplete predictions used as refinements.
[launch codename "Alaska", project codename “Refinements”] When a user types a search she’ll see a number of predictions beneath the search box. After she hits “Enter”, the results page may also include related searches or "refinements". With this change, we’re beginning to include some especially useful predictions as “Related searches” on the results page.
More predictions for Japanese users.
[project codename "Autocomplete"] Our usability testing suggests that Japanese users prefer more autocomplete predictions than users in other locales. Because of this, we’ve expanded the number or predictions shown in Japan to as many as eight (when Instant is on).
Improvements to autocomplete on Mobile.
[launch codename "Lookahead", project codename "Mobile"] We made an improvement to make predictions work faster on mobile networks through more aggressive caching.
Fewer arbitrary predictions.
[launch codename "Axis5", project codename "Autocomplete"] This launch makes it less likely you’ll see low-quality predictions in autocomplete.
Improved IME in autocomplete.
[launch codename "ime9", project codename "Translation and Internationalization"] This change improves handling of input method editors (IMEs) in autocomplete, including support for caps lock and better handling of inputs based on user language.
New segmenters for Asian languages.
[launch codename "BeautifulMind"]
Speech segmentation
is about finding the boundaries between words or parts of words. We updated the segmenters for three asian languages: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, to better understand the meaning of text in these languages. We’ll continue to update and improve our algorithm for segmentation.
Scoring and infrastructure improvements for Google Books pages in Universal Search.
[launch codename “Utgo”, project codename “Indexing”] This launch transitions the billions of pages of scanned books to a unified serving and scoring infrastructure with web search. This is an efficiency, comprehensiveness and quality change that provides significant savings in CPU usage while improving the quality of search results.
Unified Soccer feature.
[project codename "Answers"] This change unifies the soccer search feature experience across leagues in Spain, England, Germany and Italy, providing scores and scheduling information right on the search result page.
Improvements to NBA search feature.
[project codename "Answers"] This launch makes it so we’ll more often return relevant NBA scores and information right at the top of your search results. Try searching for [
nba playoffs
] or [
heat games
].
New Golf search feature.
[project codename "Answers"] This change introduces a new search feature for the Professional Golf Association (PGA) and PGA Tour, including information about tour matches and golfers. Try searching for [
tiger woods
] or [
2012 pga schedule
].
Improvements to ranking for news results.
[project codename "News"] This change improves signals we use to rank news content in our main search results. In particular, this change helps you discover news content more quickly than before.
Better application of inorganic backlinks signals.
[launch codename "improv-fix", project codename "Page Quality"] We have algorithms in place designed to detect a variety of
link schemes
, a common spam technique. This change ensures we’re using those signals appropriately in the rest of our ranking.
Improvements to Penguin.
[launch codename "twref2", project codename "Page Quality"] This month we rolled out a couple minor tweaks to improve signals and refresh the data used by the
penguin algorithm
.
Trigger alt title when HTML title is truncated.
[launch codename "tomwaits", project codename "Snippets"] We have algorithms designed to present the best possible result titles. This change will show a more succinct title for results where the current title is so long that it gets truncated. We’ll only do this when the new, shorter title is just as accurate as the old one.
Efficiency improvements in alternative title generation.
[launch codename "TopOfTheRock", project codename "Snippets"] With this change we’ve improved the efficiency of title generation systems, leading to significant savings in cpu usage and a more focused set of titles actually shown in search results.
Better demotion of boilerplate anchors in alternate title generation.
[launch codename "otisredding", project codename "Snippets"] When presenting titles in search results, we want to avoid boilerplate copy that doesn’t describe the page accurately, such as “Go Back.” This change helps improve titles by avoiding these less useful bits of text.
Internationalizing music rich snippets.
[launch codename "the kids are disco dancing", project codename "Snippets"]
Music rich snippets
enable webmasters to mark up their pages so users can more easily discover pages in the search results where you can listen to or preview songs. The feature launched originally on google.com, but this month we enabled music rich snippets for the rest of the world.
Music rich snippets on mobile.
[project codename "Snippets"] With this change we’ve turned on music rich snippets for mobile devices, making it easier for users to find songs and albums when they’re on the go.
Improvement to SafeSearch goes international.
[launch codename "GentleWorld", project codename "SafeSearch"] This change internationalizes an algorithm designed to handle results on the borderline between adult and general content.
Simplification of term-scoring algorithms.
[launch codename "ROLL", project codename "Query Understanding"] This change simplifies some of our code at a minimal cost in quality. This is part of a larger effort to improve code readability.
Fading results to white for Google Instant.
[project codename "Google Instant"] We made a minor user experience improvement to Google Instant. With this change, we introduced a subtle fade animation when going from a page with results to a page without.
Better detection of major new events.
[project codename "Freshness"] This change helps ensure that Google can return fresh web results in realtime seconds after a major event occurs.
Smoother ranking functions for freshness.
[launch codename "flsp", project codename "Freshness"] This change replaces a number of thresholds used for identifying fresh documents with more continuous functions.
Better detection of searches looking for fresh content.
[launch codename "Pineapples", project codename "Freshness"] This change introduces a brand new classifier to help detect searches that are likely looking for fresh content.
Freshness algorithm simplifications.
[launch codename “febofu", project codename "Freshness"] This month we rolled out a simplification to our freshness algorithms, which will make it easier to understand bugs and tune signals.
Updates to +Pages in right-hand panel.
[project codename “Social Search”] We improved our signals for identifying relevant +Pages to show in the right-hand panel.
Performance optimizations in our ranking algorithm.
[launch codename "DropSmallCFeature"] This launch significantly improves the efficiency of our scoring infrastructure with minimal impact on the quality of our results.
Simpler logic for serving results from diverse domains.
[launch codename "hc1", project codename "Other Ranking Components"] We have algorithms to help return a diverse set of domains when relevant to the user query. This change simplifies the logic behind those algorithms.
Precise location option on tablet.
[project codename “Mobile”] For a while you've had the option to choose to get personalized search results relevant to your more precise location on mobile. This month we expanded that choice to tablet. You’ll see the link at the bottom of the homepage and a button above local search results.
Improvements to local search on tablet.
[project codename “Mobile”] Similar to the
changes we released
on mobile this month, we also improved local search on tablet as well. Now you can more easily expand a local result to see more details about the place. After tapping the reviews link in local results, you’ll find details such as a map, reviews, menu links, reservation links, open hours and more.
Internationalization of “recent” search feature on mobile.
[project codename "Mobile"] This month we expanded the
“recent” search feature
on mobile to new languages and regions.
Other changes we’ve blogged about since last time:
The Knowledge Graph
Better search in mainland China
Notification of DNSChanger Malware
Google+ Local
Improvements to mobile local search
Google Maps for mobile 6.7
Updated Search App for iPhone
Posted by Scott Huffman, Engineering Director
Introducing Flight Search for Canada
June 6, 2012
Cross posted on the
ITA Software by Google blog
Lire ce blog en Français
As a child, I remember my father driving us to an open field adjacent to the runway at Montreal’s P.E. Trudeau airport. We sat on the hood of our car and watched the incoming aircraft as they landed before us. There was something special about people embarking on their new journey or returning from a great trip. With the introduction of Google’s Flight Search, people can quickly and easily find flights to embark on their own travel adventures, and starting today, you can use Flight Search to find and book flights from Canadian airports.
If you live in Canada and are thinking of hitting the Florida beaches to celebrate the end of another school year, heading to the Rockies for a getaway, or simply planning a business trip,
Flight Search
can help you quickly and easily find and book your flight.
We’re introducing google.ca/flights in both French and English, with prices for flights in Canadian dollars. Now you can find and book flights from Canadian airports, complete with all the benefits of our Flight Search product:
Find flights quickly with results that load instantly in a format that’s easy to scan.
Discover places to go on a map - see ticket prices for various destinations by surfing the map. You can filter by price, airline, or flight duration.
Find the best time to go - click the calendar icon to see what dates will get you low prices.
Compare your options by viewing the combination of price and flight duration in a graphical format.
Flight Search is also available in French
You can use Flight Search to book travel to over 500 international destinations. If your ideal destination or airline isn't yet available, don’t worry -- we're working hard on expanding our global coverage and adding more routes and airline partners in the future. Our goal is to make booking travel as fast and enjoyable as possible.
Posted by
Gianni Marostica
, Commercial Director, Travel
Better search in mainland China
May 31, 2012
Over the past couple years, we’ve had a lot of feedback that Google Search from mainland China can be inconsistent and unreliable. It depends on the search query and browser, but users are regularly getting error messages like “This webpage is not available” or “The connection was reset.” And when that happens, people typically cannot use Google again for a minute or more. This video shows what’s happening:
We’ve taken a long, hard look at our systems and have not found any problems. However, after digging into user reports, we’ve noticed that these interruptions are closely correlated with searches for a particular subset of queries.
So starting today we’ll notify users in mainland China when they enter a keyword that may cause connection issues. By prompting people to revise their queries, we hope to reduce these disruptions and improve our user experience from mainland China. Of course, if users want to press ahead with their original queries they can carry on.
In order to figure out which keywords are causing problems, a team of engineers in the U.S. reviewed the 350,000 most popular search queries in China. In their research, they looked at multiple signals to identify the disruptive queries, and from there they identified specific terms at the root of the issue.
We’ve observed that many of the terms triggering error messages are simple everyday
Chinese characters
, which can have different meanings in different contexts. For example a search for the single character [
江
] (Jiāng, a common surname that also means “river”) causes a problem on its own, but
江
is also part of other common searches like [丽
江
] (Lijiang, the name of a city in Yunnan Province), [锦
江
之星] (the Jinjiang Star hotel chain), and [
江
苏移动] (Jiangsu Mobile, a mobile phone service). Likewise, searching for [
周
] (Zhōu, another common surname that also means “week”) triggers an error message, so including this character in other searches—like [
周
杰伦] (Jay Chou, the Taiwanese pop star), [
周
星驰] (Stephen Chow, a popular comedian from Hong Kong), or any publication that includes the word “week”—would also be problematic.
Now, when a user types in a common term like [长
江
] (Yangtze River) from China, Google highlights the problem term [
江
] as they type, and when they press “enter” a drop-down menu appears beneath the search box:
Notices will appear matching the user’s language settings.
To learn more, users can click on the “interruption” link, which takes them to this
help center article
. They can continue with their original query (which will likely lead to an error message), or click “Edit search terms,” which will remove the highlighted characters and prompt users to try other search terms:
In order to avoid connection problems, users can refine their searches without the problem keywords. For example, instead of searching for [长
江
], they could search for [changjiang]—which also means Yangtze River, but is written using
pinyin
, the system used to transliterate Chinese characters into Latin script. This won’t cause a timeout, but will still generate search results related to the Yangtze River.
We’ve said before that we want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services. Our hope is that these written notifications will help improve the search experience in mainland China. If you’re outside China and are curious to see what the notifications look like, you can visit
this link
to try it out.
Posted by Alan Eustace, Senior Vice President, Knowledge
Note: To read this blog post in Chinese, see
this PDF
.
Labels
flight search
images
knowledge graph
local
mobile
quick answers
Search Blog
search quality
search stories
search tips
trends
universal search
webmasters
Archive
2016
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2015
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2014
Dec
Nov
Oct
Aug
Jul
Jun
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2013
Dec
Nov
Sep
Aug
Jul
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2012
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2011
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Feed
Google
on
Follow @google
Folgen Sie
Give us feedback in our
Product Forums
.