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Try out Google's new interface
Awhile back I posted about the new search results interface Google was supposedly testing. I can definitely confirm that today. This blog post describes how to set a new cookie in Firefox that will force Google to display the new results page for you. Since the instructions are a little off (and took me some fiddling to make them to work), here's my version:
Update: In the comments reader
Whosawhatsis has posted an easier way to accomplish the same thing without installing any extensions. Try that
first.
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Download and install the Add N Edit Cookies extension. Restart Firefox.
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Run the extension by going to Tools > Cookie Editor.
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Type "google" into the box at the top and click "Filter/Refresh". Scroll through the list and look for a cookie called "PREF" (Disclaimer: I don't know what this cookie is really for, so modify it at your own risk!).
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If it exists, double-click on it and change the "Content" field to the following (remove the line break first):
ID=fb7740f107311e46:TM=1142683332:
LM=1142683332:S=fNSw6ljXTzvL3dWu -
If it does not exist, you must create it. Click on Add. Enter PREF for the Name and the bold string above for Content. Set the Domain to .google.com and / for the Path. Set the expiration date to whatever you want--pick "Expire at end of session" if you only want to see the "new" Google until the next time you launch Firefox. Otherwise set a date far in the future.
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Click Save and then close out of the Cookie Editor. The next time you search Google you should see the new search results page. If you get sick of it, you can just delete to cookie and it'll go away.
Comments
28
Subscribe to commentsWhosawhatsisMar 24th 2006 4:18PM
Or just paste this into your address bar while on any google page, hit enter to run the script and reload.
javascript:document.cookie="PREF=ID=fb7740f107311e46:TM=1142683332:LM=1142683332:S=fNSw6ljXTzvL3dWu;path=/;domain=.google.com"
This will set the cookie for this session only, but it can be modified to set the expiration for whenever you want.
Jordan RunningMar 24th 2006 4:19PM
Great tip, Whosawhatsis. I've added a mention to it in the original post.
WhosawhatsisMar 24th 2006 4:23PM
Firefox doesn't seem to like that one, but it works with this:
javascript:alert(document.cookie="PREF=ID=fb7740f107311e46:TM=1142683332:LM=1142683332:S=fNSw6ljXTzvL3dWu;path=/;domain=.google.com")
Also, I should mention that this script should work in any browser and does not require a plugin. Why must people make things so difficult?
5m0k3Mar 24th 2006 4:45PM
You can also view a screenshot of a possible drop-down menu that may be in the works, here: http://digg.com/design/New_Google_Interface:_Drop-down_Menu
WhosawhatsisMar 24th 2006 5:35PM
One more note, it looks like if you modify other preferences (for instance, by switching to personalized home) while this is active, it will make the preference stick so that it won't switch back automatically for over 30 years. If you want to get rid of if, you can run the script again and then close your browser immediately. This will make the cookie a session cookie again, so that closing the browser causes it to expire.
derekMar 25th 2006 4:05PM
this doesn't seem to work for me beyond the google homepage. once i view results the default google page is loaded.
mattMar 25th 2006 6:40PM
cool
WhosawhatsisMar 25th 2006 7:25PM
This hit digg and people started complaining that it didn't work for google in other countries (google.co.uk, for example), so here's a universal version:
javascript:alert(document.cookie="PREF=ID=fb7740f107311e46:TM=1142683332:LM=1142683332:S=fNSw6ljXTzvL3dWu;path=/;domain=."+location.href.split('/')[2].substr(location.href.split('/')[2].indexOf('google')));
KevinMar 25th 2006 8:05PM
Heh, I've already been getting the new interface.
KenMar 25th 2006 8:16PM
Does it works with Opera Browser?
ylonMar 25th 2006 9:13PM
The following worked perfectly in Safari, thanks!
javascript:document.cookie="PREF=ID=fb7740f107311e46:TM=1142683332:LM=1142683332:S=fNSw6ljXTzvL3dWu;path=/;domain=.google.com"
Search Engines WebMar 25th 2006 10:12PM
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=EGLC,EGLC:2006-05,EGLC:en&q=
this works in IE - just save it to the favorites
JSMar 25th 2006 11:58PM
I've seen that interface come up while doing regular searches. Every now and then I see that layout instead of the normal one. It's rather distracting. I hit my back button and rerun the search to get the normal layout.
jeanMar 26th 2006 2:03AM
I use a notebook and a desktop and both firefox, but very intrestingly the one shown by you above only comes on the notebook and the normal google search on the desktop.
http://www.irintech.com/x1/
DanieMar 26th 2006 6:54AM
The tip for the universal version works great. Can someone supply the necessary instructions for the cookie editor to make it permanent?
RamaMar 26th 2006 9:39AM
None of this works. You guys are wrong. This is a hoax. Here is the error message I get when using any of the script lines via cut&paste:
"Javascript error: Unexpected end of line while searching for closing } of invalid rule set"
"Javascript error: Selector expected. Rulset ignored due to bad selector"
It does not work in IE, Firefox or Opera. Nice try but just a hoax. Those saying it works are just part of the hoax.
Jordan RunningMar 26th 2006 1:50PM
Danie: To make it permanent, just set the expiration date to a long time in the future.
paulMar 26th 2006 5:51PM
What is so special about the new interface? All I see are some indicator lines next to names of the different google search engines.
Ollanta HumalaMar 26th 2006 6:05PM
I can't make it work on Firefox:
"unterminated string lateral"
DavidMar 26th 2006 9:39PM
I added :
javascript:alert(document.cookie="PREF=ID=fb7740f107311e46:TM=1142683332:LM=1142683332:S=fNSw6ljXTzvL3dWu;path=/;domain=."+location.href.split('/')[2].substr(location.href.split('/')[2].indexOf('google')));
as a new bookmark and that works fine. I just load it when on a google page and hit refresh.