Mountain View, California — After observing that a vast number of web searches stemmed from smartphones, search engine behemoth Google last week announced that it had introduced a new feature available with its “Google Custom Search,” namely the fact that it now formats search results to fit on mobile phones.
Earlier this month, the Mountain View, California, company has rolled out AdSense for mobile to optimize advertisement potential on these devices. Introducing a mobile version of Custom Search was one of the most requested features in Google’s recent Product Ideas survey, the firm said.
The following devices are supported in the new release:
- Android-powered phones
- iPhone
- iPod Touch
- Palm Pre
When a user searches on a site with Google’s Custom Search box, they would be redirected to a Google-hosted Custom Search results page created specifically for the siteowner’s custom engine.
“Users can check this out on your phone right now. Here are a few samples: search for user-generated content (e.g., search for “zakumi”) from sites like Wikipedia or Knol, or look for more information on Custom Search (e.g., search for “promotion”),” says Google Search Group Product Manager Rajat Mukherjee. “As you can see, Custom Mobile Search results can match the look and feel of your own website, and we have enabled interactive features, such as label tabs for navigation, as well as promotions.”
The new feature, according to the company blog, can be employed by any Android-powered phone, iPhone, iPod Touch, or Palm Pre owner that uses his or her handset to enter a website that features a Google Custom Search box. As soon as a search is executed, users will receive optimized search results that have been specifically formatted for said devices.
The new feature renders web pages the same look and feel as when viewed from a PC. Interactive functions like the label tabs for navigation and promotions are also incorporated into Custom Mobile Search. The addition of custom search for smartphones should make a lot of people happy.
Developers have the freedom of creating their own mobile Custom Search home page too. Google says that more features will be coming soon.
Google said that there are some configuration requirements for formatting Custom Search to achieve mobile phone optimization. More information about setting up custom search for mobile can be found here in this post from the Custom Search blog.