Google kicks off homepage revamp

Google is rolling out a major revamp of its search homepage, in a bid to simplify the page and improve user experience.

Google: overhauls homepage
Google: overhauls homepage

The changes are only available to a limited number of users. The black bar across the top of the page that lists services including Maps and Images has been replaced by a grey bar containing the Google logo.

When the logo is clicked, a drop-down menu appears, which lists seven products, including Gmail and YouTube. A further eight products are listed in a drop down menu when the cursor hovers over "more".

The changes bring Google's key function search to the fore and mark one of its biggest home page changes to date.

Google announced the revamp last year, and introduced the black bar, which has been removed as part of this roll out, in June.

It also reduced the size of the Google logo in the centre of the pages, known as the "Google doodle" for a cleaner look.

Chris Wiggins, Google's digital creative director said at the time, the changes where part of an ongoing project to bring users a "more seamless and consistent online experience".

Google's drive for a "consistent" user experience comes as the search giant has expanded its portfolio of products and fragmentation in the means the service is accessed across a wider range of devices, in particular mobile devices.

The revamp comes a month after Google launched a major redesign of its video sharing site YouTube to bring its content offering to the fore.

In December last year, BT launched a legal assault on Google, .

Google said: "We have rolled out the new Google bar to some users and are looking to broaden  the rollout in the coming weeks."

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