Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Introducing Search Options for mobile
Finding the exact information you need sometimes requires filtering and refining your search results. Earlier in the year, we launched a collection of tools called Search Options which enable you to easily and quickly do this from a computer. Today in the US, we are making Search Options available on Android/iPhone/Palm WebOS devices so that you can slice and dice your mobile search results as well. For example, suppose you are shopping at a store for a camera, and you would like to see what users have been saying about a specific model within the past week. You can do this simply by searching for the name of the product. Then, on the search results page, use "Options" to filter by "Forums" and refine further by choosing "Past week". See the screenshots below for a sample query. Try these and other Search Options yourself by simply doing a mobile search on google.com and selecting Options.
I'm really sad to see so many of these new Google mobile services being rolled out for Android, iPhone, and Palm, but not for Windows Mobile. I hope you guys will keep developing for us WinMo users too!
ReplyDeleteGive BlackBerry users some love please! We've got to be one of the larger user bases out there for mobile searches...
ReplyDeleteWhat about S60 devices?
ReplyDeleteI've also been missing the "Past Month" option (not just in mobile.)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI would welcome "Past month" option too.
ReplyDeleteNo WinMo, I understand Mobile IE sucks.
ReplyDeleteBut S60? It's got a great Webkit-based browser that's a quite recent fork (esp of S60 v3.2) so why not support us?
Well Alan, i'm using android and theres no options button there. Not on the mobile site and not on the desktop site. So there's nothing to complain about. It just isn't there....
ReplyDeleteStarmile said: Give BlackBerry users some love please! We've got to be one of the larger user bases out there for mobile searches...
ReplyDeleteNot to immediately jump in and defend Google, but how about having BlackBerry give BlackBerry users some love and enable a browser platform for which development is consistent and feasible when serving to all those users?
I second (or third) the call for WinMobile support :). I like the other Google applications I have on my WinMo phone.
ReplyDeleteVery nice feature, just tried it out. I did the same example search (Nikon D5000) on my iPhone both on Google and Bing. Kinda liking how Bing works though...
ReplyDeleteNow that's cool! Btw what makes it even more cool is that your screenshot's show D5000 :) I just bought that one.
ReplyDeleteCEO:
http://m.mwd.com
For some reason this only works on my Android phone when I search from the Google mobile homepage in the browser, but not when I search using the Search Button (on the homescreen). Is this going to be fixed?
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see more love for MicroB and Fennec, the former is pretty popular on handheld linux devices and the latter is probably going to have a huge base.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, yes please to s60 support.
Every time I read these releases and blogs it just saddens me. I love my Google products but they don't do much for the Blackberries which is one most popular smart phones out there. Am I missing something where Google and RIM are not getting along. Cause all I read about is how Apple and Google have issues but it seems like every update or new mobile app always involves that crap piece of hardware the idrone i mean iphone.
ReplyDeleteWinMobile and Blackberry devices can't support these additions because their browsers are absolute crap. If you want a rich mobile browsing experience, get an iPhone or an Android phone or a Palm Pre. Otherwise, you should just accept you bought a mobile device that features a browser that doesn't support CSS or JavaScript requirements to do cool stuff like this.
ReplyDeleteTheodore hits the nail on the head. Buying a Winmo or Blackberry device for browsing the web is like buying a canoe to go deep sea fishing.
ReplyDeleteTo Alan and Starmile,
ReplyDeleteThe reason these don't work on Windows Mobile and all Blackberry devices it Microsoft and RIM's fault, not Google. They are using antiquated mobile browsers, the iphone, palm, android, and soon blackberry (they just acquired a company that make a webkit browser for Blackberry devices) are all using Webkit to make there browsers which is much further advance then Blackberry's and WinMo browsers. So Blackberry will catch up soon.
Another vote for past month.
ReplyDeleteAs with so many other stuff Google does, Search Options is not avaiable on the com.br site. And google won't let you have it any other way, you must access the com.br site.
ReplyDeleteNo Newton support? Yeesh!
ReplyDeleteBOOOO... These new features don't work on my trusty Siemens A50 phone. http://www.gsmarena.com/siemens_a50-335.php
ReplyDeleteNot to mention it doesn't work on an old PC I dug outta the closet that runs Internet Explorer 1.
@ guitarguynboston
ReplyDeletemaybe when you've conquered the 'logistics' of escalator use you can add something germane to the discussion.
To all the complaining blackberry and winmo users: you;re complaining to the wrong party. The search options, and many other of the advanced mobile pages that google offers use a lot of javascript and ajax; The pathetic browsers your platforms offer can't handle javascript and ajax as well as Mobile Safari or Chrome's browser. Get your device makers to put some care into their browsers and you'll get your improved browsing, not just from Google.
ReplyDeleteGood job.
ReplyDeleteIt's about time. Until this update, viewing the regular 'advanced' google search page to search within a date range would redirect you to the iphone search page without your search string intact. So there was no way to search within a certain date range.
Finally. Thank you.
Eric...meh.
ReplyDeleteAny idea when this will be available in other countries? (I'm in the UK and obviously I know its not out here yet, I'm assuming it's US only at the moment)
ReplyDeleteYes, Blackberry and WinMo browsers are awful. They don't offer the full js and css capabilities that WebKit (and probably Opera) browsers do.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don't see anything about this feature that makes it imperatively dependent on these features. Is it a nicer user experience than going to a separate page to narrow the results? Sure. Could Google have figured out a way to gracefully degrade in less-capable browsers? Undoubtedly.
I'm not defending stinky mobile browsers; they are indefensible. However, there are a bunch of people out there who don't have access to those browsers (Company phone, for instance?) for whom these features might be very welcome, and it's kind of weak for Google to claim that it would be impossible to implement this feature for them.
Theodore, your comment about Windows Mobile browsers being absolute crap is unfair. I'll agree that Pocket IE (before WM 6.5) was pretty bad, but has improved in the latest version of Windows Mobile. Also, have you tried Opera Mobile 9.7 (or any of the other third-party browsers like Skyfire that are available on WM)? I think its performance is right up there w/ mobile Safari and it supports Flash. With the right URL's it also renders the same pages that mobile Safari would. Google probably filters out users based on their browser's UserID string. iPhone, Android, WebOS have good standard/bundled browsers, however Windows Mobile offers users the widest choice of third-party browsers and it's unfair to write them off. I wish Google and others would recognize Opera Mobile, among others, as a more than competent mobile browser and extend features to it.
ReplyDelete@all_the_winmo_haters:
ReplyDeleteUmmm ... MY Verizon Touch Pro2 came from Day One with Opera Mobile 9.5. It does all that jazzy CSS and Javascript. So what is the new excuse for why I can't get this search tool on my WinMo phone?
make please available also for other countries.. same for local mobile search in categories!
ReplyDeleteplease please please.
Google should not have to compensate for blackberry and WinMob's bad browers. It's their fault, not googles, apples, or other phone companys. I can sympathise for people who have to get blackberries because of their phone company, but WinMob... that's your own stupid fault.
ReplyDeleteI love the Options in mobile Safari. Any chance that the iPhone Google app will be upgraded to allow Options? I like the voice search feature that is not available in Safari.
ReplyDelete[Insert Generic Complaint About Not Having These Options on WM 6.5 Here]
ReplyDeleteWhen will this become available for google.co.uk users? I've got an Android on HTC hardware on the Vodafone UK network but I'm not getting these new options yet.
ReplyDeleteAnd another vote for "Past Month".
ReplyDelete