Google is now testing out some subtle changes to the search bar items and icons on desktop. When hovering over the menu items they are now in bold, along with black icons for the search by voice, search by image and search icons (instead of the colourful default variant).
Google is running a test where the ‘All’ menu item is being renamed to ‘All results’ on mobile. While there has been a bit of a break in the string of menu item tests, this marks a continuation of the trend, with the other change being the Short videos test on desktop in November of 2024.
Google is now testing out the Short Videos menu item on desktop for the first time, showing a grid of short video results. This comes after the menu item launched on mobile in August.
Since the South African flag label started showing in July, John Mueller shared an update to make it official and included a menu item filter. Once the filter is selected it only shows results that qualify.
Google has now launched the Short Videos menu item on mobile globally. The menu item first started appearing in April of this year in the US as a test, with Google quickly moving on to launch in all regions.
Google is now testing out a new ‘NEW’ label assigned to menu items below the search bar. The test is focused on the ‘Forums’ menu item, with several different variations: blue text, blue text with a blue background, white text with a blue background, and with just a blue dot.
Google has now altered the naming of the UK/European menu item from ‘Product Sites‘ to ‘Product websites‘. This change looks to be showing for all users within this region.
Google is now testing an additional set of menu items for eCommerce queries between the standard menu items and the refinement bubbles. Each category in the menu is unrelated to the query, taking you to a SERP similar to the shop deals experience.
Google is now testing a ‘Short Videos’ menu item on mobile for users. This is after the recent launch of ‘Forums’ and also the addition of ‘Products’ and ‘Product Sites’ in the UK. While the Short Videos unit appears globally for all users, the new menu item test is an expansion of this feature by featuring an entire feed dedicated to the videos.
Google has now launched the ‘Product’ and ‘Product Sites’ search menu tabs in the UK and some parts of Europe. Last week, it was reported that the ‘Perspectives’ menu was changed to ‘Forums’ (note: this is only in the US), with the new UK menu items being a continuation of this.
The launch of the new menu items in the UK/parts of Europe ended up being the most significant change in Google’s search results for the month. With there now being a clear trend in Google trialling out segmenting search results more heavily for users according to content format.
Google is now testing out adding additional items to the standard search bar arrangement. This includes a menu item for Web Results and also one for Forums.
This test ended up being the most significant for the month, with Google announcing in the following month that ‘Forums’ would be replacing ‘Perspectives’ in the US. Web Results still remains as a test, which will likely continue with the introduction of AI-powered overviews in Search.
Google is testing out a new desktop search bar variation where the selected menu item has blue text and background. This is compared to the standard desktop search bar featuring options by popularity.
Google looks to have now launched the ‘filter by’ lefthand menu on desktop for all eCommerce queries in the US. Previously, the menu would show as a test, but it now looks to be showing as the default.
Similar to the mobile menu item test from earlier in the month, Google is now testing a similar simplified format on desktop with no icons. This is different to the ongoing desktop menu item test, which has blue icons to accompany the text.
On the back of ongoing search bar menu item tests on mobile, Google is now testing a new simplified format. The new format has no dividers, which is different to the ongoing test which has a blue outline and icons. The default format continues to have an underline for the selected item.
Google is continuing to do more testing with how their search bar appears on desktop, with the latest test showing the selected search bar menu in black (showing as blue last month).
Google is doing more testing with how the menu icons appear in the search bar on desktop. In the latest test, Google is boxing in the menu items with a blue background once selected (instead of the standard blue underline with coloured icon).
Google is now showing a new variation of the search bar menu icons on desktop. This new variation features alignment to the left in a vertical formation with large icons. A previous test from Feb 2022 had placement to the right.
After a short break, Google is again testing new design variations for the desktop search bar. So far, I’ve seen up to 6 different variations of Google’s desktop search bar in recent months. The latest variations include a search box that is a square (rather than rounded) and also removal of icons from the menu items with some colour changes included.
Google’s search bar tabs are again showing as aligned to the right on desktop for some users in a new test. This test was showing roughly a year ago and looks to have returned. This variation has a more simple design without the icons accompanying the text, with only having ‘Images’ and ‘Videos’ visible and all others hidden behind the ‘More’ drop-down.
While February was a slow month for Google testing and rolling out new features, the desktop search bar test was the most significant for the month. This test was appearing quite often throughout February and into March, with another variation of this same test showing more menu items that aren’t hidden behind the drop-down.