Google is always looking for ways to improve its services and remain the world’s most popular search engine. That was the motivation behind a mid-October update that is designed to make the address bar more user-friendly. Besides general improvements to the address bar results, Google has made three other distinct changes.
Popular Site Suggestions
Located at the top of every webpage, the address bar is a faster way to get to your favourite sites and pages without using the search bar at Google’s home site. In the past, users needed to be accurate with what they put into the address bar since it could take them to a site immediately.
The first and most impactful change Google has made is improving site suggestions from that address bar. The new improvements benefit popular businesses that compete online, especially those with what Google’s algorithms would consider a strong online presence. That’s down to many things, but that includes traditional marketing techniques when it comes to attracting and retaining customers. An example of this might be the casino promotions at Betfair, a large iGaming provider, where free spins and deposit-matching bonuses are commonly available. In other words, businesses shouldn’t necessarily be dropping some of their previous marketing winners in light of this new update.
When typing into the address bar, a drop-down menu has been implemented. This has been used in the past to show previously visited websites, and it still is if the keywords have been used before. However, it can now suggest popular websites even if the user has never visited them before. We know that suggestions in Google’s central search bar play a big role in how people navigate Google’s search engine, and these new address bar changes are bound to have a similar impact by directing web users to popular services online.
Autocompletion & Typo Corrections
Autocompletion improvements for the URL bar will include typo correction. This makes the address bar better by avoiding incorrect URL searches. It doesn’t just save time, it can also avoid missteps by the user – ending up on the wrong site – and the resulting impact on the site owner – losing out to customers who fell through the cracks on account of a typo.
Bookmark Search Feature
The last new change to the Chrome interface is all about bookmarks. If you have a lot of bookmark folders, you will quickly lose their benefit since you have to tediously search through them. For future reference, LifeHacker has organisation tips that help keep your bookmarks in order. Now Chrome users can use a dedicated search inside the bookmarks folder, which will compare your favourite websites to the query and spit saved page suggestions at you.
To activate this search, users should put the name of the bookmarked folder in the address bar. This will automatically create a list of suggestions from inside that folder, where users can get to them in just one click. It aims to make bookmarks simpler and more accessible for those who rely upon them.
