Google’s New Look Through Javascript

ZDNet’s “Googling Google” blogger Garett Rogers found a Javascript trick that unveils the occasionally glimpsed new look of Google’s search results to Firefox users.

Rogers posted about the clever Javascript workaround he crafted after finding instructions on an Italian website for seeing the alternative Google layout.

It appears an Italian blogger, Salvatore Aranzulla, first uncovered the cookie trick needed to make this work. When used, the SERPs in Google display a list of links on the left side of the page.

These links, to Web, Images, Groups, News, Froogle, and Local, appear with green bars next to them. The bars indicate roughly how many results a query has for those various searches. A query for “exchange traded funds” has lots of green next to Web and News, but very little for Images.

Rogers has made this more useful by making a “Toggle Google Look” bookmarklet based on the observations of the cookie behavior documented on the Italian sites. Users can also set the necessary cookie manually through the use of a Firefox extension like “Add ‘n Edit Cookies.”

The same trick does not appear to work in Internet Explorer or the Opera browser. Firefox worked exactly as Rogers described.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.