Google may be testing a new “Google Simple Search” feature that may dumb-down the search results when you want something more simple. Google shows the “Simple Search” +Topics refinement button at the top of the mobile and desktop results, when tapped on, it readjusts the results to give you a different set of results.
Here is a screenshot from @dansully, he sent me more photos similar to what he posted on X:
@rustybrick Look at this. Up by my search bar, I have an option for ‘Simple Search’ that hides SGE and snippets. pic.twitter.com/KCfp6Y60wm
— Daniel Sullivan (@DanielS76479430) November 21, 2023
At first I thought maybe it was some weird refinement option Google was showing Dan but I spoke to Dan and walked through more examples and it worked for other unrelated queries:
Then turned on simple search:
Plus, I cannot replicate this at all, either on desktop or mobile but Dan can.
Can you replicate this?
What do you think “Simple Search” is and does?
Search Engine Roundtable Google Search New Search Refinement Option
