Can You See Me Now? Google Grows Search Box

Google has super-sized the search box on its homepage and increased the size of the text to help make queries easier to see.

“The new, larger Google search box features larger text when you type so you can see your query more clearly,” Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president for search products and user experience, said in a blog post.

“It also uses a larger text size for the suggestions below the search box, making it easier to select one of the possible refinements,” Mayer said.

For Google, any change to its front page — including one as mundane as this — is not taken lightly. The search leader’s iconic, 11-year-old front page has remained relatively static since its inception. And it’s widely known that any changes to the page typically go through rigorous testing before being deployed — a fact that might not be surprising considering the vast sums of money tied up in Google’s core business.

Early this month, Google received a patent for the design of the homepage. It had filed an application in early 2004 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In 2006, Google also received approval for its patent for the design of its search results.

But while Google remains the No. 1 player in search, it’s also been busily exploring beyond its original focus — into online advertising and payment processing, digital book publishing, Web browser software with Chrome, mobile operating systems and applications with Android — and is even working to develop new solar technology.

Still, Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) blog states that search is still the company’s priority.

“Google has always been first and foremost about search, and we’re committed to building and powering the best search on the Web — now available through a super-sized search box,” Mayer wrote.

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