Sometimes when you start searching for something on Google, you’ll find yourself searching for a few other things soon after. To help you quickly move on to your next query, Google Search on the desktop is testing a “Clear” button in the search box.
With many of Google’s products, the company will frequently run experiments that let a select number of people test out new UI changes, and see how those people’s behavior changes accordingly. The latest of these experiments for Google Search adds a handy “Clear” button that you can click on the search results page, which only appears when you hover over the search bar.
This pattern is nothing new, as many search boxes on mobile devices offer an easy one-tap way to clear your query, including Google Search on mobile web. The Clear button’s usefulness is just as high on desktop web, as now instead of clicking on the search box and manually deleting your search terms, you can simply click the Clear button and you’re immediately ready to type a new query.
While the new pill-shaped Clear button will appear on the home page and on the main search results page, the button disappears on most of the other results tabs like News and Shopping.
The rollout of this particular Search UI experiment seems to be based on your Google Account, as the Clear button appears on all of my devices but only when logged in to one of my three accounts. Let us know in the comments if it appears on your end.
More on Google Search:
- Google Search weather card gets Material Theme, detailed forecast in mobile web
- Google gets better at understanding natural Search queries w/ ‘biggest leap forward’ in 5 years
- Google tests Material Theme homepage that highlights voice search
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