Making mobile search complete, easy and local

As part of our "Go Mobile" week of tips and tricks, we're recapping some of our latest Google Search for mobile features. All of these new features either make mobile search more complete, easier to use or more local.

Complete
When you enter a query on Google.com on your phone, you access the same comprehensive index of the web as when you use Google.com on your computer — including universal search results such as images, local listings, news, blogs, videos, products and more. You get the same search experience you're familiar with, presented in an optimized format for your phone.

• Product Search: In April, we launched Product Search for Android and iPhone, and made a version available for all other phones in July. Product Search lets you read product ratings and reviews and check prices while you're shopping.
• iGoogle: In June, we launched a new version of iGoogle for Android and iPhone devices, making more of your desktop iGoogle gadgets available on mobile.
• Image Search: In August we brought our Image Search results optimizations to feature phones. This lets you see more images on the screen while browsing and selected images in full screen, and makes navigating between images much easier.
• Fast Flip: In September, we launched the mobile version of Fast Flip for Android and iPhone devices, letting you scan news articles quickly.
• Search Options: Earlier this month, we launched Search Options for Android, iPhone and Palm WebOS phones, enabling you to further refine search results to get the information you're looking for.

Completeness also means making our products available in languages and regions throughout the world. In July we launched optimized search results for 38 languages in 60 countries, and in August, we added Arabic and Hebrew to reach our 40 language goal.

Easy
Let's face it: typing a query into a mobile phone can be painful. Here are some recent features we've launched to make it easier to enter queries and get to the results you're interested in.

• Barcode scanning: In May, we introduced barcode scanning to Product Search for Android devices to make entering specific product queries easier.
• Desktop-to-mobile query suggestions: Sometimes your mobile search is actually one that you've already done on your computer. In September, we synchronized your desktop and mobile search history so that you can easily repeat past searches.
• Search by voice: We're constantly improving our speech recognition technology for searching by voice on BlackBerry, Android and iPhone devices.
• Quick Search Box: And just last week, we announced an integrated search capability for Android devices that lets you search your contacts and applications in addition to the web — all at the same time.

Local
As you're out on the go, your mobile phone can be a great tool for finding information about what's nearby, whether you need to find the nearest gas station or ATM, or want to check if the local hardware store is still open before driving there. Here are some recent things we've launched to make Google mobile search an even more powerful way to find local information.

• Search with My Location: In July, we brought automatic location detection to Google.com for the iPhone Safari browser, so you don't need to specify where you are when you are searching for businesses near you. In September, we launched Search with My Location on Google Mobile App for Windows Mobile phones.
• Category browsing: Also in September, we released a completely redesigned local search experience for most phones. With the new local tab, you can search for businesses around you by simply browsing a categorized list of businesses.
• Starring and history: The new local tab also lets you star local listings on Google Maps on your computer and have them automatically appear on your phone. It also remembers listings you've viewed on either your phone or Google Maps on your computer, to let you easily find them again. Watch the video below to see a demo of the new local search.

If you haven't tried Google Search on your phone in a while (or ever!) go ahead and give it a try now by going to Google.com in your mobile browser. Hopefully some of these new features will make mobile search more useful for you. And as part of "Go Mobile" week, if you have any questions for the Google mobile team you can ask them here until 11:59 PDT on Tuesday. Then, we'll answer a few on Wednesday on the Google Mobile Blog. Otherwise, you can leave comments on our Help Forum as always.



Posted by Scott Huffman, Engineering Director