Posts by Michel Wester

Michel Wester is the owner of the Dutch website WebSonic.nl, started in 2004. WebSonic mainly focuses on news about Google, Twitter, and Facebook. Next to the news the site has a lot of tips for PC users and starting web developers. -- More articles and bio from Michel Wester
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Bing Strips Search Results With New Look

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Microsoft decided to overhaul the design of the search results, the page now has a completely new layout. Earlier this year several users spotted a experiment of a cleaner interface and since that moment Microsoft experimented further and came up, based on the received feedback with this new stripped design.

After performing a query you will see a very clean and simple interface. The left column with search history and filters is gone and the related searches are now shown at the right net to the results. Besides the related searches nothing is shown here, even no ads. The left side as wide as the logo now looks pretty empty. (more…)

Zerg Rush Easter Egg from Google, defend your search results!

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Recently Google is occasionally hiding bigger Easter Eggs in the Search Engine. This started last year with the query ‘Do A Barrel’ roll which still works and lets you turn the page, short after that around the holidays the query ‘let it snow’ made it actually snowing on the page with results with a Defrost button to bring the results back.

In the past more smaller subtile Easter Eggs where hidden by Google in the search engine and other products. For example, for some time in many doodles there was a little triforce, YouTube contained serveral ‘eggs’, Google Maps at this moment has a small kayak Egg and currently on the homepage of Android.com there is a small Easter Egg hidden in the footer. (more…)

Google Does Take Manual Action On Webspam

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Maybe you already follow the webmaster videos from Googles Matt Cutts in which he answers questions from webmasters. Matt is doing this for several years now and which I think is a good thing. There are a few hundred videos now and he even answered one of my questions once :-) .

In his latest video Matt answers a question from himself. “Does Google take manual action on webspam? Does manual action result in a removal or can it also be a demotion? Are there other situations where Google will remove content from its search results?” (more…)

Google Consumer Surveys Could Be Worthwile To Try

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On the 29th of March Google introduced a new product called Consumer Surveys. A new product aimed on both large and small companies who would like to do market research in an easy way in order to make certain decisions. These online surveys can be about everything, for example how many hours users watch TV or which kind of packaging they prefer for a certain product. (more…)

Users Make Good Use of Whitespace Google+ [Fun]

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And now for some after-weekend fun :-) . As you must have noticed last week that Google introduced a completely redesigned interface for Google+. Say what you want about the new interface but almost instantly there were a lot of comments about the extra whitespace which shows especially on bigger screens and lead to the trending topics #whitespace en #usesforwhitespace on the social network.

Soon after this Google+ boss Vic Gundotra announced that there are plans for this space but what functionality Google has in mind he wouldn’t say yet (please not ads!).

Many users with bigger screens made fun of the whitespace by showing on pictures what you can do with it. For example, you could put bacon in here but also a new browser window with Facebook seems to fit nicely, or what about a lavalamp. We collected some funny pictures from users below, if you want to see more of these pictures head over to, of course, Google+. (more…)

How Google Would Look Like In The ’80s

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What if Google and other popular sites would exist in the ’70s or ’80s and how would they look and function. After watching the popular BBC Comedy “Look Around You” the Dutch web editor Jo Luijten came up with the idea to think about how Google and Twitter would look like in the eighties.

It resulted in the video’s below, besides Google and Twitter Luijten also made video’s of Angry Birds, Draw Something and there’s a video of how Facebook would look in the ‘90s. In an interview with Wired Luijten told he is now looking at YouTube, I’m curious how that will look like :-) . (more…)

Google Analytics To Be Used For Measuring Google+ Pages

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On the Dutch website Dutchcowboys Arvid Bux spotted a photograph of a presentation from Google with information about measuring Google+ Pages. The photograph shows that actually quite logical Google Analytics will be used for measuring activity on Google+ Pages.

I was able to find the original presentation (Google Confidential) from Google with some more information about connecting Analytics and a Google+ Page.

To measure a page you only have to make a new profile in Analytics and then paste the unique tracking ID in the settings from the Google+ page, this is the same way you can currently measure Picasa Web Albums. Also there is a button to make a new Analytics profile directly from within the page. By measuring a page this way the statistics are separately from a existing profile so you can’t combine it with a existing profile from your own company website. (more…)

Email and PDF Google Analytics For All Users In New Interface

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It has taken a long time for Google to integrate this but the company finally announced that sharing reports by email and export rapports to PDF is now available for all users of the new interface. The new options were announced last month but as usual the roll out goes in phases. Also the beta label is still on it because Google is still working on some finishing touches.

If you are currently using the option to schedule a report to send to clients then this is the time to slowly start migrating these reports to the new interface. All scheduled emails in the old interface are not automatically available in the new interface because Google practically build the new system from the ground up.

This means you have to set all scheduled rapports again if you still want to send them. It will be a while before the old interface will sunset and by that time Google of course will send you a notification but if you have a lot of clients it might be good to start early.

On the other hand this also has a advantage (look at the bright side): you now have a moment to clean up all your scheduled rapports because maybe some mails can be dropped :-)

New Options

With the new system you also have some new options. First you can now decide which day to sent the rapports and you can set an end time under the advanced options (don’t know why this is advanced), for example you can set that you want to stop sending emails after six months.

Bing Desktop Puts Bing On Your Desktop

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In a surprising move, at least to me, Microsoft made Bing Desktop, a little piece of software (1.4 MB) to add the search engine to your desktop. After downloading and installing the software there will be a small search field at the center of your desktop. After typing a query and hitting enter the browser will open with the results in a new tab.

The search field is designed to give quicker access to the search engine but I wonder if users who have a browser window opened most of the time will actually use the software. It does also remind me off the Windows Gadgets which are not developed or supported actively anymore.

By default the search field is placed in the middle of the screen but in the settings there is an option to place the field at the top of your screen. In that case you can simply move your mouse to the top and the search field becomes visible. Also you can drag the field to the left of right.

Everyday a new Wallpaper

Next to search the software has another feature where it can be used for: wallpapers. If you use Bing you will see a different background-image everyday on the homepage. Bing Desktop lets you connect to these pictures. By activating this feature in the settings the picture used on the homepage of the search engine will also be set automaticly as your wallpaper and this will also change every day.

Bing Desktop can be download here and is only available for Windows 7 users. Would you use Bing Desktop to search? Or would you use the software for the wallpapers?.

Google Might Let You Change The Links In The Black Navigation Bar

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Coming right after the experiment which was discovered earlier this week that hides the left navigation from the search engine by default is the news / rumor / hope that Google, in the future might let you customize the links to the different products in the black navigation bar.

Google Community Manager Kelly Fee posted this on Google+

“The larger question here is about customization of that bar and I can tell you and everyone else that customizing the product navigation links is a popular request from our users, and it’s something we’re looking into.” (more…)

Google Shows UEFA Champions League Matches And Results

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Getting ready for tonights Champions League games? If you are a soccer fan then the newest addition to Google might be something for you. Google announced that from now on, when searching for “UEFA Champions League” or simply “Champions League” you will get match scores and schedules in your search result. At the top under the website from the UEFA Google will place a OneBox. Behind each match there is al link to the specific match on UEFA.com. Above the OneBox there are links to Standings, Matches, Clubs and Statistics.

By clicking the link ‘Show more games’ you will see more matches that already have taken place and more upcoming matches. A very nice feature for if you want to search which teams are playing on what dates. At this moment this only works on Google.com and Google.co.uk. I´m not seeing it yet on local versions.

It was already possible to find information with Google about previous and next matches in local competitions for clubs also delivered by UEFA.com. For example if you search for FC Barcelona or AC Milan you will see the result from the last competition match and you will see when the next match will be including date and time. (more…)

Google Tries To Hide The Search Options By Default

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I just spotted a new Google Search experiment which by default hides the search engines and options on the left, next to the search results. Instead of showing the links in the experiment you have to click the new small red icon next to “Everything” to get all search options. While it gives the interface a really clean look this way you have one click extra to reach the other search engines and options and even some users might think that all links are just gone. Besides that, after clicking for example on Images the menu hides again en that’s a little annoying.

I was suprised too see the experiment after Google recently tried the same approach to replace the black navigation bar on top of all Google products. After announcing the new navigation in November which was hidden under the Google logo it was pulled back only a few months later.

Below a video I shot to professionally :-) :-)  demonstrate the new menu from the current experiment.

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