Yesterday was Google’s second-ever “Searchology” event. At the last one, Google unveiled Universal Search. At this one, they’ve expanded that further by refining it into what Google calls Search Options.
If you go to Google now and search, you’ll see an option at the top of the page called “Search Options.” Clicking that will open a side bar with refining tools for narrowing the search by age, resource (blogs, forums, etc.), and allow expansion of the sample text shown so you can get a better idea of what’s on the page.
This is a good addition, I think, and definitely one that shows why Google is on top of the search game. This video from the Google Blog gives more information on Search Options:
Google’s possible answer to Wolfram Alpha, which launches on Monday, might be Google Squared. Currently in development in Google Labs, the search is slated to appear under the Labs option later this month.
According to TechCrunch, a teaser of how Squared works was given at Searchology. Think of it as a spreadsheet of search results with various bits of informative data (based on search results) appearing in columns and rows. So searching for pizza type, for instance, might give cooking styles across the top with condiments and so forth in individual data blocks.
The following video from TechCrunch gives a little more information on this and a demo of its current abilities:
