Apr 30, 2011 12:01 GMT  ·  By

Google added a number of small tweaks and features to its search engine this week, like it's usually the case. Users of the specialized Recipes search will notice that search suggestions are now relevant to this particular type of search and not general queries. Speaking of specialized searches, Google is testing Patents as a new category to slot in right below Recipes in the search sidebar.

Google Instant has now been enabled in Japan. Rich snippets for prayer times have been rolled out as well and those wanting to not miss the royal wedding were able to get the time and date straight from the results page.

"In the past, when you searched in Recipe View on Google, you’d see the same search predictions that you’d see on the main web results page, which wasn’t always helpful for specifically food-related searches. Now when you search in Recipe View, you’ll see more relevant search predictions," Google explained.

Granted, recipes are probably not a huge traffic source for Google, but the changes are important since the search team has been putting a lot of effort in specialized, vertical searches, especially those that rely on metadata, such as recipe search.

Having relevant suggestions for recipes translates into better suggestions for any Google search.

Google also introduced prayer time rich snippets which make it easy for those looking for this information to find out when and where they can pray near their location.

"In addition to rich snippets for events, reviews and people, you can find local prayer times quicker and easier in your results. For example, a search for Islamic prayer times in London will show prayer times and locations. As more sites around the world use rich snippets for prayer times, you’ll start seeing results for additional cities," Google explained.

Google Instant has been around for half a year now, but Google hasn't finished rolling it out around the world. It's harder in some places than in others, and the company has only now gotten around to enabling the feature for Japanese on either the Japan search engine or other localized sites using the language.