Google Instant Gets Keyboard Navigation - and a blue triangle arrow

[engine]

Google Instant To Get Keyboard Navigation [pcadvisor.co.uk]

Instant is also gaining keyboard navigation capabilities, which let users move among search results and back into the search box for query refinements without having to reach for their mouse.

Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of search products and user experience, made the announcement on Wednesday at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco.

The domain expansion and the new features will be rolled out over the coming days. That Google is giving the technology a boost like this so quickly could indicate the company has been happy with its adoption.

[Robert Charlton]

Here's the Official Google Blog article on the enhancements, which include the expansion of Instant to some of the left panel "vertical" search channels. The blog post also contains a video demo of the enhancements....

Fly through your Instant search results with keyboard nav
Official Google Blog
9/29/2010
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/fly-through-your-instant-search-results.html [googleblog.blogspot.com]

We’re also making Instant available within many of the search features in the left panel of the results page including Videos, News, Books, Blogs, Updates and Discussions.

[Lame_Wolf]

I like using my mouse. Thankfully, this "bright idea" by Google doesn't work on IE6.

[Robert Charlton]

Google has always been pushy about suggesting the keyboard instead of the mouse. It has long encouraged the use of Enter, eg, instead of using the mouse to click on the Search button. I could understand it if the Search button were a mechanical part that we might wear out if we overused it, but otherwise we're going to want to switch to the mouse at some point anyway... so why not switch at the point of search rather than after?

Instant is also gaining keyboard navigation capabilities, which let users move among search results and back into the search box for query refinements without having to reach for their mouse.

You can now navigate to main listings with the arrow keys, and it actually works well, but if you want to click on a Site Link, a Similar link, a link in a rich snippet, or any kind of search refinement that's a link, you're going to need to use your mouse anyway.

You will in fact need to use the mouse to select any of the search features or verticals in the left panel... and you will need the mouse to click on the ads. The keyboard scrolling keeps my eye over at the left side of the center column, on that little triangle that jumps down the screen from listing to listing. I wonder what that does to ad click-throughs.

[olias]

Well I just discovered this feature after a slight finger failure that meant I hit enter a couple of times for a search. Some poor advertising just got stung for an unintended click through.

Looking at the SERPs though it really does make that first Ad stand out more having an arrow next to it.

[drall]

Am I the only one who is thinks this is drawing undue attention to ad slot 1 at the top? Certainly pulls my eyes to that first ad.

[backdraft7]

I'm seeing it too. The problem is, who going to intuitively know how this works, because it's not intuitive at all. I'll stick with my mouse. What's next? mind control? lol

[elguiri]

Am I the only one who is thinks this is drawing undue attention to ad slot 1 at the top? Certainly pulls my eyes to that first ad.

Not only does it draw your eyes in, it draws false clicks from people hitting the enter key twice after entering the search term.

Another reason not to bid on the number 1 spot.

[Robert Charlton]

A few observations about the blue triangle that I haven't seen mentioned...

Though it points to the Local Business Results line (above the map), the triangle... when you arrow down... skips over all of the seven-pack results to the right of the map and jumps to the next organic result.

To click any of the seven-pack, you need to use a mouse; I'm wondering whether this is costing click-throughs for those results.

When you get down to the bottom of the page (ie, the traditional #10 or additional Universal results), if you keep arrowing down, the triangle vanishes for a moment (ie, for one down-arrow click) and the page holds at the Related searches at the bottom....

If you press the down arrow again, the triangle jumps up to the top of the AdWords ads in the right column, and each arrow click takes you down the ads, one by one. At the bottom of the ads, the triangle stops and doesn't respond to further down clicks.

You can arrow back up the ads and then back up the page, down again to the bottom of the organics, and back up the organic column.

Apparently also, there appears to be a mechanism in Instant that temporarily turns it off if you have apparent confusion in trying to choose the right selection. I didn't play with this latter feature much, so I may not be describing it accurately.

[freejung]

I'm wondering whether this is costing click-throughs for those results.

I doubt it's having much impact yet. I noticed the triangle earlier but had no idea what it was or what I was intended to do with it. I suspect it will take a while for people to start using the feauture, if it is widely adopted at all. I personally find it quicker to use the scroll wheel and click as usual, and I'm normally a big fan of keyboard shortcuts.

[HuskyPup]

This morning is the first time I've seen this and after reading this thread I can't get it to do it again!

[Mal_Jones]

In my opinion and experience this arrow pulls users into clicking on a paid for advert without them being aware of this. Its like google is promoting the number one ppc listing by not making it clear that this arrow is a navigational aid. For me Google is loosing the plot with all these new gimmicks and they need to remember K.I.S.S ...Keep it simple stupid.