Google has begun rolling out Instant Previews, providing Google Instant search users with a visual preview of the site they may wish to click on.
This new feature displays a graphical overview of a user’s search result and highlights the most relevant sections of it.
Users need to click on the magnifying glass that will soon be next to the title of any search result to display this image, which will appear on the right. Users can then hover their cursor over any search result to see a preview.
After users click the magnifying glass, the previews for other results will load in the background, reducing waiting time.
There will also be text call outs to highlight in orange the search terms on the webpage.
Those who use their keyboard to navigate Google search can also avail of this, by pressing the right arrow key over a result to see the preview.
According to Google, Instant Previews will match a query with an index of the web, identify relevant parts of the page, stitch them together and search the resulting preview for the search query in less than one-tenth of a second.
Google has also said this new option makes users 5pc more likely to be satisfied with the results they click. While it’s not a huge figure, Instant Preview seem like a useful feature to see the website before you click.
The new feature will roll out internationally in the next few days.
