Google’s Search Pages Evolve

originally appeared in The New York Times:

Google’s look has changed significantly since it started in 1997. While the search engine originally returned basic blue links to other Web pages, it now also shows ads, photos, maps, answers to questions and other information. While Google says this helps users get the information they want as quickly as possible, some of its competitors say Google is poaching potential visitors to their sites by showing its own content and including eye candy like photos and maps. Antitrust regulators are investigating. Below is a look at how Google search results pages have evolved.

Most Google searches used to return results like this one for "theory of relativity" — a list of blue links to other Web pages. In 2007, Google started what it called universal search by including things like videos from YouTube, which Google owns, in search results.

Shopping searches, like this one for "patio furniture," are one of Google's most lucrative sources of ad revenue. Above search results, it shows ads related to the search, labeled as ads and shaded in beige.

Google started its own comparison shopping service in 2002. This fall, it began requiring that retailers pay for their products to appear there, so Google makes money when someone clicks or buys a product. Antitrust regulators have questioned comparison shopping competitors like Nextag about competition from Google.

When users search for local results, Google shows nearby businesses with addresses, Zagat ratings and Google reviews from its Google Plus Local service. (Google owns Zagat.) Regulators have interviewed competitors like Yelp, whose executives say that Google has filled prime real estate on the search results page with its own listings. In that same search, by hovering a mouse over a listing (in this case, the top result), the right side of the page shows a Google map, reviews and ratings of the business from Google Plus Local and photos of the store, some shot by Google. Below that are links to reviews from other review sites that compete with Google Plus Local. Under the "People also search for" header, users are shown similar listings and photos from Google. Places.

In 2010, Google started plucking answers to common questions from around the Web (like "How old is Barack Obama?") and showing them on the top of search results, so users would not have to click on another Web page and scan to find the answer. This year, Google started showing more information and images about the search topic on the right side. It is part of what Larry Page, Google's co-founder and chief executive, has described as a shift in Google's mission to helping people understand the world, not just find a Web page to answer a query. As part of what it calls the knowledge graph, Google pulls information from around the Web that is relevant to the search. It also shows the most recent post from Barack Obama on Google Plus, its social network.