Google is testing a new home page for Google.cn that completely abandons Google’s clean uncluttered look for something that looks more like Yahoo.
Google Blogscoped notes that this may just be a test and might not become the main Google portal in the worlds second largest internet market, but even as a test it’s a big change. Google has struggled to gain marketshare in China against the homegrown but NASDAQ listed Baidu.
If you’re wondering what all the content in the shot above means, a translated version can be found here.
I thought it were the other way around?
oh.. it would be really bad if Google is changing their clean UI….
From what I’ve heard, the Chinese seem to consider sparsely laid out sites as unfinished or poorly designed.
It has nothing to do with yahoo. Most major Chinese website are cluttered like this. Google.cn is really focusing on localization. They just bought g.cn, in case folks in china don’t know how to spell Google.
I don’t like the portal for Google.cn.
Is it so? It is too bad.
Jedi_boston
Did I say it had anything to do with Yahoo? I was merely making the comparison in terms of looks, it has nothing to do with Yahoo and everything to do with China
The coloured dots are the same as the Korean Google home page (www.google.co.kr & choose 한국어). I think they’re doing this because they can’t compete on search alone in Asian markets because their search results aren’t nearly as good as the local competition’s.
The reason Google is doing this is because in China it is harder/slower to type. The Chinese greatly prefer clicking links to typing.
This is not an attempt by Google to “[look] more like Yahoo”. Instead, they are attempting to create a better user experience for Chinese web users.
Micheal,
I think Google realizes that it would be a mistake to change the US site. I also think they have realized that it would be a mistake to assume that the US design is appealing across all cultures.
That’s interesting.
It would seem unfortunate to see google move away from a clean look.
But, perhaps the majority of internet users in China are used to that type of feel and might prefer it…
I can’t see Google changing their minimalist approach. Perhaps in China and certain other places to fit in but not globally. Fast loading pages and relevant results are their focus. One out of two ain’t bad.
You know they’ve been hiring all the Yahoo! designers, right? Design convergence baby!
I am a Chinese. I dont think most Chinese people would feel the new Google look is great. But I appreciate Google’s innovativity for tring to serve Chinese more by allowing more info entance. I partly agree with Brian for we Chinese consider sparsely laid out sites as monotonous. We Chinese generally like being served with many choices.
Only one standard interface per country?
Perhaps Google should support multiple looks, depending upon individual user preferences.
“One size fits all” may not work when there are a billion people in the target market.
Everyone Copies Someone.
Since when is experimentation headline news? This is par for the course.
Actually, Google is learning from those chinese popular local sites. And those sites did look like the baby Yahoo! ( I mean the first look when Jerry Yang carried it to the world)
The most outstanding sites like these are http://www.hao123.com and http://www.265.com.
70 millions of Baidu’s traffice come from http://www.hao123.com everyday right now. It was merged by Baidu at 2004 .
Google got 265.com at his pocket this year. The Google.cn is really learning from them.
What’s the best “face” for Google.cn in China? Only the one can attract chinese internet users. not the one for western users.
User-Oriented is the only reason for the change.
As others have said this is nothing more than Google catering to local tastes where monstrously complex pages with hundreds of links assault your eyes. I’m surprised they’ve not added some cutey flashing cartoon icons and a load of pointless flash that gets in the way of your mouse. China is still very much Web 1.0
@13, ‘innovativity…’ that sounds like the making of another Chinese start-up..lol
these continued references to “yahoo clutter” are lame. look, people like the yahoo top page. it is probably the most tested (in reali life and controlled environments) page design on the web. people like it. it is a very expensive place to put an ad. the last revision of the top page got more positive press and positive user reaction than any previous change.
The translation is so bad….
How often do you use the “clean” Google interface anymore? I personally have a portal type site where I have tons of feeds, in addition to search.
Google’s GUI was a hit (back in the day) because it truly emphasized search, which at the time no one was doing well. Everyone is doing search now, and doing a decent job. The “simple interface” was just a fad, almost a marketing gimmick. I think Google recognizes this fact in the US as well, since they typically direct a user to a portal version with some default content.
It would be interesting to see the English translation of this page.
Do you realize Google could become the biggest bubble ever if it has not gotten there as yet.
Look at it. They started out as novel search engine, they now want to become a phone company, and now they want to become a Yahoo. So what exactly is Google’s barriers to market entry? what monopoly do they posses?of boss of bosses.
If you can provide me withe a definite answer in favour of Google then you may have a case. However I see their stock heading south when the new beast and king of the universe step into the ring.
Do you realize Google could become the biggest bubble ever if it has not gotten there as yet.
Look at it. They started out as novel search engine, they now want to become a phone company, and now they want to become a Yahoo. So what exactly is Google’s barriers to market entry? what monopoly do they posses?
If you can provide me withe a definite answer in favour of Google then you may have a case. However I see their stock heading south when the new beast and king of the universe step into the ring.
i just moved to china having worked in silicon valley. i have the same question too when i moved here.
i spoke with some colleagues here: the typical chinese internet user uses the internet when they have free time and hence prefer to browse.Therefore, a portal-like design that places comprehensivity over brevity (of content) fits the “explorer” mentality of many users. think back to how we used the internet in its earliest days, we used directories because we simply did not know what was out there on the web. same thing in china.
in china, the major portals like sina and sohu dominate the “browsing” user market. that does not mean intention-based users who use search engines are missing in CHina. they do, but their needs are best met by Baidu currently. a colleague of mine uses Baidu for chinese language searches because Baidu simply does it better than Google. google is used only for english language searches, a niche market in China.
I feel Google China is being realistic in its market strategy here. China’s web user market is still only above 10% of the overall population and growing really rapidly and acquiring new and clueless users all the time; hence chasing the newer and larger “browser” user type makes perfect sense compared to chasing the more sophisticated “searchers” who are still in the minority. Faced with a dominant competitor in search, like Baidu, competing on search technology (chinese lang) might not seem a wise choice. google might prefer to own that new user base first and slowly educate and convert them to search while buuilding brand awareness, compared to losing the browser market to Baidu when the users get savvy.
having a yahoo-like design is just called localization, not a symptom of an overall design change as implied by some comments above.
http://techkeyl...sibilities.html
What more we want from Google!!!
#26, that’s an excellent explanation.
Sorry to butt in with an off the topic comment. But you r not covering live.com email address availability. Everybody is hyping it off and its not even working. either you cant sign or you dont get the option of selecting the id
“From what I’ve heard, the Chinese seem to consider sparsely laid out sites as unfinished or poorly designed.”
Brian, Americans had the same problem with Google back in the day as well. Eventually we all came to accept it.
Either simplicity is not universially appreicated, or Google is giving in too easily in foreign markets (which wouldn’t be the first time).
Interestingly, http://yahoo.cn adopts the clean Google-like look.
Yahoo.cn looks like google.com while google.cn’s beta design looks like yahoo.com. Somebody’s getting the localization wrong.
Google has ripped off Yahoo in so many ways with UI, it’s really almost sad. You can still many remnants of Y! code around their site, most obviously the previously-discussed browser bundling stolen code of a few months back and every login page Google has ever had. It makes sense really, since Google doesn’t really care about designers, and the ones they do hire are essentially the rejects from the other big players who actually care about UI and presentation. Why would you ever want to be a designer at Google? So you could be told that it doesn’t matter by 50 different engineers?
The funny part – the wholesale theft of concepts and ideas is not as bad as AOL’s similar crimes in regards to Y!.
Google has been borrowing from Y!. If you look at layout code at google.com/ig. There is yui grid code embeded. I’m pretty sure most of the front-end engineers will agree that Y! YUI has outdone themselve. Probably the only few good things coming out of Y! these days.
Google design has been praised endlessly regarding its simplicity of use and user focus on the search task. A white page with a form to fill in the middle … what could be better? Which page can convert better to searches? You would think that simplicity and user focus are so basic to human interaction that people would interact the same way with the search page in NY or Beijing. I wonder if this page will convert better.
I think Mashable beat you guys on this story. One point for them!
@22 nails it; @34, you miss it completely.
there is nothing “simple” or “clean” about the typography or the UI in gmail or the new google docs. it’s just underdesigned chaos. it may get rave reviews from tech folks, but it is not good design. don’t confuse functional simplicity with formal simplicity, and for that matter, don’t separate form and function.
if you want to see the perfect counterpoint, look at leopard. apple does “simple” obscenely better than google, and for the world’s most sophisticated GUI operating system. that’s design.
this chinese version is no better than the u.s. version from that perspective. and i think it’s a laugh that a page full of chinese characters is considered “uncluttered” : )
Duncan, sounding a little defensive. Did you not write your own headline (which specifically relates to the design to Yahoo)?
I am Chinese in China. I personally don’t like this portal-like page, neither do most of my friends.
By the way, the translation version is very stupid.
I think it is just a test in China.
Baidu have the page but Google don’t.
So google.cn make the page to improve the “localization”.
It is so bad.
I am a chinese,I think it is a good local improvement.why you think the simple is the best? If I can click one time from the homepage,why i must click second time? http://www.google.com ’s homepage has a top banner,but it has not in China.If google still do things like it in America,it will never be success in chinese market. I use baidu when I search chinese,only use google when I search english.just beacause baidu.com is more easier to type.I think use g.cn is a greatest idea and change.You known,google is still a strange name for most of chinese.
???????????
The truth of the matter is, if people can’t find it in Baidu, then will come to google (and vice versa).
I’d wish they spend more time and resources improving their greater china search results rather than spending resources doing localization facelifts.
Their search results are far less in coverage and accuracy compared to baidu.
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