Chrome Tests Side By Side Search & Journeys; Browser History With Search

Google’s beta version of Chrome is testing two new search features; one is side by side search and the other is Journeys. Journeys is being tested in Chrome Canary on desktop and the side panel on the Chrome OS Dev channel.

Google announced it there but I also covered it last week at Search Engine Land.

Side by Side Search

Chrome is testing a new side panel in the Chrome OS Dev channel, that lets you view a page and the search results at the same time. This lets you view a page right in your main browser window without needing to navigate back and forth or losing your search results. “The goal of this experiment is to explore how Chrome can better help users easily compare results,” Google wrote.

Here is what it looks like:

To open the side panel and view the results, click on the G icon next to the search bar. And if you’ve found what you’re looking for or don’t want to see the results any more, you can close the panel at any time.

Journeys

Journeys will cluster all the pages you’ve visited related to your previous browsing history so you can easily view them without having to sift through your browsing history. You’ll also see related search suggestions so you can continue your browsing right there. It is like a beefed up browser history.

Google wrote “Importantly, you’re in control of your Journeys experience. For example: you can turn off Journeys at any time, and as always, you can easily clear your browsing history right from your Chrome settings, or by typing “clear browsing data” into the address bar. If you’d like, you can also clear history that’s related to a particular journey vs. your history overall. Finally, the current Journeys experiment only groups history on your device — nothing is saved to your Google account. Based on user feedback and interest, future versions may offer the ability to access Journeys in Chrome across multiple devices (just like bookmarks or passwords).”

Here is what that looks like:

Some of this can lead to more searches for your or maybe pull your customers away from your site to your competitors. It depends on if you are a glass half full individual versus glass half empty type of person.

Forum discussion at Twitter.