Jun 27, 2011 13:01 GMT  ·  By

Google is always running a lot of tests. Usually, it's small changes and new features. Once in a while, a major redesign gets rolled out to some users in testing, often several variations, as Google works out the kinks and finds out what works and what doesn't.

It's now becoming clear that Google has something big in the works, perhaps the biggest change since Instant Search and the biggest design refresh since the major revamp more than a year ago.

The redesign has been spotter in the wild, it started to become more common last week, and it looks like Google continues to expand the experiment, or perhaps the initial roll-out.

Google has been testing new versions of its homepage and search results page. They're evolutionary changes, but they're both rather big, huge by Google standards.

The homepage takes minimalism to extremes. In essence, it now contains just the Google logo - a static image, the search box - with a microphone button for Voice Search, and a new search button - a blue button with a magnifying glass.

All of the other links have been pushed to the side, leaving an even cleaner Google homepage than before, which is quite a statement.

The search results page has also gotten a revamp and the changes, though not all individually noticeable, add up to quite a different experience. The search results page feels lighter overall, something that was perhaps due, since Google has been piling in features in recent years.

It's very similar to the existing results page, but there are plenty of small and subtle changes. The most noticeable, are the grey background in the search box area, which also got the blue search button from the homepage.

The left sidebar is also noticeably different. The search filter and option links are all grey while the currently selected section is red, a seemingly strange choice of colors, but one that somewhat works in practice.

The search results themselves have been changed, they feel more spaced out and more easily distinguished. The URL is now displayed right below the title link and some of the tools related to the search results have been moved or removed, the Similar link for example now only shows up in the Instant Previews.

The redesigned Google Search is being spotted by more and more users, indicating that Google is getting close to a wider roll out. An official launch should be coming soon enough.

Photo Gallery (3 Images)

The redesigned Google search results page in testing
The redesigned Google homepage in testingThe redesigned Google search results page in testing
Open gallery