Google Tests Navigation Element

Google’s navigation element – the black bar at the top of the page with white/grey text – is real a crowd divider. Ever since 2011 when it was introduced, some have hated it and others have liked it. Search for it and the first things you’ll see are “How to Get Rid of the Black Bar” features.

Google themselves seem unsure about it, occasionally experimenting with other navigation tools that either removes it completely and replaces it with something else, or simply changes its colour. However, so far the black bar has always returned unscathed and unchanged. 

Google have recently said that they experiment all the time, releasing up to 500 updates to search and 5,000 experiments per year, so it’s not surprising that they have changed the navigation several times.

In their latest experiment, the black bar is gone, and instead a grid icon placed by the ‘Sign In’ is used to reveal links to Google’s other products such as Google Maps, YouTube, Gmail and more. First spotted by unofficial Google Blog ‘Google Operating System’, it has appeared for some users but not others. Most have noted that is very similar to the apps icon on the Chromebook, creating a more unified feel to Google’s products.

However, the grid has also drawn criticisms. It includes a Google search icon, which is redundant as you are already on the Google search page. It also adds more clicks to the process but makes the design cleaner. It may make Google’s other products harder to find. Only time will tell if Google keeps the new design.