14 DAY TRIAL // Google has just extended the functionality of the Search Options panel it introduced earlier this year with several new filters and options. There are nine new tools available ranging from fewer shopping sites to real-time search, which make Google a much better tool for certain specific searches while at the same time allowing users to sway the emphasis of the search results depending on their needs or preferences.
“We've received lots of positive feedback, and we're seeing more and more people using Search Options every day,” Nundu Janakiram, product manager, and Patrick Riley, software engineer, wrote. “Today, we're announcing nine new Search Options tools: past hour, specific date range, more shopping sites, fewer shopping sites, visited pages, not yet visited, books, blogs and news. These features have been rolling out gradually and will be available globally in English by the end of the day. You can try them yourself by searching Google and clicking "Show options" in the blue bar just under the logo.”
When the Search Options tool was launched it introduced time frame filters allowing users to limit their searches to a certain time period. These worked fine for longer periods like months or days but the smallest possible option was to search for results from the past day. Now Google has added finer controls for the time frame allowing users to search within entries in the past hour. A more vague “recent results” option is also available with results going back several hours. Finally users can specify an exact date range for their search.
A much more interesting feature is the option to change the nature of the results depending on what type of information users are looking for. For example, when searching for a product Google has no way of knowing if the user wants to find more information about it or is looking for a place to buy it. With the new “More shopping sites” and “Fewer shopping sites” options they can specify the nature of their search. Another option that could prove useful is the possibility to choose between “Visited pages” and “Not yet visited” pages which, like the shopping filters, comes in very handy in many situations. Users will have to be logged in to use this feature and have Web History activated for obvious reasons. Finally, there are more options when selecting the type of content to look for as Google has added Books, Blogs and News to the ones already available.