WebProNews

It used to be that, if you were seeing the word "clean" in a search-related article, Google was the subject.  Microsoft's Live Search has been redesigned, though, and it's now looking very streamlined.

On the homepage, a whole lot of white space surrounds the main search box.  Perform a search, and of course some results show up, but you'll see the "clean" element continued. A thinner, simpler, search header is on display as part of a centered, fixed-width page.

 Zestfully Clean Live Search

Furthermore, the official Live Search blog states, "We've also made changes to our color and typography.  Our decision to use Arial and the new color palette was based not only on our desire to improve readability and consistency, but also on rounds of testing to find the right combination."  We'd love to know how many hours of thought went into this call.

The overall effect really is nice, though.  Video search and health results have been tweaked, too, so Live Search's new looks aren't its only lure.

It'll be interesting to see what Hitwise, Nielsen, and comScore have to say about this when their May statistics are released.  And since those agencies are, after all, just reporting what people did, feel free to weigh in with your own thoughts in the meantime.