Google vs The World. And the winner is…filed in: web
written by James on June 11th, 2010 |
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Google rolled out its latest experiment in user interface improvement yesterday and within minutes outrage was spreading like wildfire across the net.
For “one day only” Google changed their minimalist/functional search page to show a full screen image. A nasty image from a selection of nasty images that you couldn’t easily remove.
In what appears to be a knee-jerk reaction to Bing’s ever-growing profile (and I will discuss their appalling TV spots in a separate article), Google decided to emulate their onscreen real estate with disastrous results. Although some have suggested Google deliberately did this to show people how unpleasant Bing is – not too sure how driving users away will stop them from using the competition.
In the process Google overlooked several seemingly important concepts:
1 – make sure the imagery used actually works with the design and functionality of the existing system.
2 – entice people to use it and make it an opt-in decision on their part.
3 – provide clear instructions on how to use the new feature.
Sadly Google made this a compulsory feature for everyone billing it as a 24hour experiment (although many got it for a day in the previous week and some have reported having to put up with it for four days). Unlike other tests and betas there was no great explanation as to why it was implemented or how to control the experience.
As it turns out you had to have a Google account in order to modify the system. Except they didn’t explain this too well and many missed the instructions entirely. Anyway as I have a Google account I logged in and discovered that sadly most of the images were highly distracting. That most made text impossible to read. And that worst of all you couldn’t turn it off by choosing the default theme. Even changing the background to white didn’t help as you still had white text and a white Google logo floating around (not a big fan of white on white personally). To add insult to injury as soon as you logged out it deactivated your chosen settings.
There have been many changes recently that would have passed many people by such as fading text and other sundry html4 features and innovations that have actually done nothing to improve user experience and in some cases have worsened the situation. It is odd that a company so large, that has prided itself on its easy to use, uncluttered interface makes changes in such a disorganised and poorly planned way.
Within minutes of the project going live thousands of people were venting their anger across the web, including on Google’s forums. Amusingly Google chose to respond by talking about the great new features instead of actually responding to what the angry mob were saying.
In under 2 hours it had become one of the highest trended topics on the net.
14 hours into the experiment Google turned the system off citing a technical bug as being the reason. It is a shame they couldn’t have been open and transparent throughout the process as it may have gone some way to appease the bad taste that yesterday left in the mouth of many people.
I am not a fan of Bing in any way but at least their layout has been designed with the use of large background images in mind. They considered the design from the ground up rather than trying to re-wallpaper a decade old monolith. Inexplicably many angry commentators said they were going to use Bing to show their unhappiness – I assume they were unaware Bing uses large format images!
As per usual most of the web chatter can be ignored. Trolls live to complain and if it hadn’t been over this they would have found something else to fill their Wednesday with. However what was surprising was the scale of the resent and the subsequent egg it left on Google’s face. Also, slightly worryingly, help articles appeared in no time telling people how to permanently block Google background images. If they do ever re-instate the concept they will be facing a number of permanently locked doors around the globe.
The idea itself isn’t terrible. Many like to customise their online experiences (often the younger demographic). What is terrible is their method of implementation and their lack of quality control.
Will it put Google out of business? Of course not – it has 84% market share (Bing is around 3%). Will it tarnish their big brother reputation even further? Almost certainly.
Google can legitimately say it provides a free service and as such can do what it likes. However it does have to answer to its shareholders who will no doubt now be concerned about a high profile mess that will have lost them a lot of goodwill and regular users.
Google may be one of (if not) the largest companies on the net and at times has shown disregard to its users but when enough of them band together empires can be toppled. Bill Gates must still be chuckling, tucked up safely within Bing Towers. After all when you are at the top there is only one place you can go…
Microsoft, MSN and Bing have since made several sarcastic (and occasionally humourous) comments very publicly. Not a single article criticising Google’s decisions has not made reference to its emulation of Bing, and of all those articles I didn’t see a single comment criticising Bing’s design. You can be sure Microsoft will be sending their thanks to Google at the earliest opportunity. At the very least it will help dry their tears after discovering that Apple have now eclipsed their earnings.
No one rules the internet for very long because ultimately it belongs to the people and always will.
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