Monday, May 10, 2010 8:01 AM/EST

How to Switch Back to the Old Google Search UI

Google launched its revamped search user interface last week, and there's no question that search engine results pages are a little busier and a little more cluttered than they were before.

You used to click a button to make search options pop out:

OLD UI.png

Now they are suggested (you have to expand them though), along with different content types. Opening all of the tabs thickens the left-hand rail:

New UI.png

This is proving too busy for some folks, and Google's help forums are ablaze with complaints like this one from sanjitsingh92:

"Please Let us have the Option to remove the "Everything Sidebar"....I have been using the simple clean google for years."

Fortunately, those enterprising bloggers over at The Next Web offer this link to help people who despise change, or just despise Google's UI changes, revert back to pre-UI overhaul, which some call Classic Google.

Seriously, this one link will bring you back to the old glory days of more mundane search options: http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=all. Bookmark it.

I personally like the new changes, appreciating the new and different options to slice and dice search results.

But some people like the old results, and Search Engine Land's Danny Sullivan noted that Google has no plans to offer users the option to switch between old and new, which I think is wrong.

For a company that prides itself on providing users' choice -- they even created a Data Liberation Front to let users move their data in and out of Google's Web services -- this is remarkably closed.

The only reason I can think of is that Google doesn't want to be burdened with keeping the old UI updated and fresh.

In any case, use the link I provided. It will work until, well, it doesn't.

Comments (10)

minu mathew :

new google UI is available only to latest versions of browsers . why?

Posted by minu mathew | May 10, 2010 10:01 AM

Georgy N :

Thanks a lot! It really works!

I have made that link my home page because I love the old layout of search results A LOT!

I am sure there will be many more people out there like me, who love to keep the old layout. It would have been great if Google gave a link to revert back to the old style. :(

GeorgyN

Posted by Georgy N | May 10, 2010 10:25 AM

Ick :

You must be one of the 10 people that like it. Either that, or you are a Google employee. :)

Posted by Ick | May 10, 2010 10:25 AM

VLN :

If this is the case (only works with the latest browsers) and there are no plans to offer the opt-out option, Google is perpetuating the continued use of IE6 and older, less-secure, browsers.

Thanks for the link.

As for keeping the old UI 'updated and fresh', maybe Google and a lot of other firms should remember a the old adage "If it aint broke, don't fix it." The best part of Google in the past was that things were familiar, and simply-stated, and all the necessary changes went on behind the scenes, where they should be. Change for nothing but the sake of change is basically saying 'screw you' to the loyal followers.

Posted by VLN | May 10, 2010 10:28 AM

Steve :

It's amazing how history repeats itself. In 1985, Coca-Cola dominated in market share but Pepsi was breathing down its neck. Coke found in "user testing" that people liked the sweeter taste of Pepsi, so they changed the formula that had carried them since their founding and that millions had grown to love.

I sense the same thing happened here. No doubt Google has A-B tested this thing to death. But they failed to take into account the intangibles. Most of us who have been loyal to Google have appreciated the "clean, crisp taste" of the interface. A lot of us don't appreciate the clutter, and I think most of us certainly don't appreciate Google's attitude of late of saying "we're going to change things, and you're going to like it" (can anyone say "Google Buzz"?)

New Coke probably did taste better than old Coke. But at the end of the day, drinkers just felt that it wasn't Coke. I'll make a bold prediction that you will see the largest loss of market share to Bing yet in the next 1-2 months. It's already telling to me that the first thing out of most people's mouths when I hear them describe the new Google interface is, "it looks like Bing".

Posted by Steve | May 10, 2010 6:18 PM

Clint Boulton