Internet giant Google has created an experimental search page showcasing three alternatives to the traditional vertical list of web pages delivered as search results.The additions, which are available through the Google Labs site, are intended as a means of providing users with an opportunity to test the search engine provider's latest ideas.
One of the new features added by Google is a map view, intended to assist internet users looking for something in a particular geographical location.
For example, the service enables people to search for jazz performances in their local town by plotting the results found in a number of web pages on a single map.
A second service being trialled by the company is dubbed the timeline view and serves a similar purpose, but involves dates found on the web.
With this feature, a graph appears at the top of the page summarising how dates in search results are spread through time.
The third service being tested, called the info view, does not dramatically alter the look of search results - which remain displayed vertically as normal.
Rather, this view is accessed through a control panel to the right of the traditional results, giving the option of rearranging them in order of importance related to locations, dates, images or measurements.
For example, if a user selects dates in a search for space exploration, the first result would be the date of Sputnik, the first successful orbital launch.
Google, however, is not alone in upgrading its search capabilities. According to InformationWeek, Swedish company Polar Rose is developing technology that can search actual images on the internet, as opposed to tags or text surrounding a photograph.
