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Google Has Dropped Google Instant Search

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Re: Google Has Dropped Google Instant Search

#51

Post by Bartweiss »

amelius wrote: post #20

Good. And now stop changing Google. I don't want to be surprised every time I use your tools. (Edit: And that holds for the doodle too. They are sometimes funny, but not so much so as to warrant making me lose focus. I'm working, not watching TV)

My least-favorite change is that the All/Image/Shopping/News buttons on the search page rearrange based on your choice of term. Static-looking features shouldn't shuffle themselves around based on my form inputs!

(It's worse because I've never wanted the Shopping button, ever, but it's bad design regardless.)

Re: Google Has Dropped Google Instant Search

#52

Post by seanp2k2 »

untog wrote: post #19
mstade wrote: post #16

Does this mean we can regain the backspace-to-go-back that's been everywhere since forever, but was killed by Chrome because of instant search?

IIRC backspace-to-go-back was not killed because of instant search, it was killed because users kept going back when they didn't mean to, because they thought they were typing in a text box and weren't.

There's still e.g. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/backspace-to-go-ba... but IMO it's ridiculous to not just make this an option. Hide it in a flag. https://venturebeat.com/2016/08/14/restore-backspace-shortcu... they decided that 400k users was not enough to warrant a flag for.

But hey, cmd+q to quit immediately, with "warn before quit" off by default is a great idea. No need to look at that one or make it possible to change the key bind. Never mind that it's one key away from cmd+tab.

This is the kind of stuff you get when you make decisions based on A/B testing.

Re: Google Has Dropped Google Instant Search

#53

Post by [deleted] »

Bartweiss wrote: post #47
pavement wrote: post #36

Wow, finally. This was such a disruptive feature. Completely distracting from the moment you interact with the page. This wasn't a productivity bonus in any way, regardless of purported reading recognition rates and eye tracking/movement measurements. No, computer. You wait until I'm finished. You wait until I tell you I want you to do something. You don't jump at every flinch of my fingers. Not all interactions requ…

Now if only they would stop swapping Images, News, and Shopping link around based on my search. I want a picture of whatever I searched for, that's why I clicked the button next to 'All' like I have a thousand times before - don't reorder your damn links from page to page!

[deleted]

Re: Google Has Dropped Google Instant Search

#55

Post by swampthinker »

Shank wrote: post #48

Looks like I'm in the minority here, but I really liked instant. I remember turning in instant from the omnibox in chrome, too. It showed that Google was at least willing to innovate in the search space -- and for some of us, it was a huge positive to have.

Yeah, I usually will start my Google searches in the Omnibox, then use the search bar on the page when I needed to find something new. In those use cases, instant is incredibly useful.

Re: Google Has Dropped Google Instant Search

#57

Post by bbotond »

I hated the "instantness" of Instant Search but loved the keyboard shortcuts which seem to have disappeared. I used TAB and the arrow keys to select a search result and Ctrl+Enter to open the result in a new tab.

It is very, very sad that it is no longer possible to use those.

Re: Google Has Dropped Google Instant Search

#58

Post by yborg »

alistproducer2 wrote: post #4

>Google Instant launched in 2010 under the leadership of Marissa Mayer. Mayer called this change a “fundamental shift in search”.... So Mayer does it again, lol. My favorite thing is how this lady was praised as some sort of genius for managing the Google search page - as if that page is some marvel of modern engineering and not just a webpage with and input and no background.

The feature was live for 7 years. That's longer than the majority of the companies in SV even exist.

Re: Google Has Dropped Google Instant Search

#59

Post by and0 »

waqf wrote: post #6
alexkavon wrote: post #3

Good. This was their most useless and wonky feature. Not sure how this was supposed to change search.

Yes, this feature had negative value for me. A common use case is that I'm copying keywords from search result snippets back into the search bar to make a more refined followup search, and Instant Search snatches the result away while I'm trying to copy text from it.

This is exactly what drove me crazy about it.

Re: Google Has Dropped Google Instant Search

#60

Post by jackcarter »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #52
untog wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IIRC backspace-to-go-back was not killed because of instant search, it was killed because users kept going back when they didn't mean to, because they thought they were typing in a text box and weren't.

There's still e.g. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/backspace-to-go-ba... but IMO it's ridiculous to not just make this an option. Hide it in a flag. https://venturebeat.com/2016/08/14/restore-backspace-shortcu... they decided that 400k users was not enough to warrant a flag for. But hey, cmd+q to quit immediately, with "warn before quit" off by default is a great idea. No need to look at that one or make it…

There's a hack to sort-of disable the keybind: Go to chrome://extensions/ and open "Keyboard Shortcuts" (bottom right). Pick an extension you don't use anymore (or install one), and set the shortcut for "Activate the extension" to cmd+q or ctrl+shift+q.
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