In December, Google introduced topic filters to search results as part of a carousel redesign on mobile, and now it’s coming to desktop.
For a long time, search has shown filter results for images, maps, shopping, videos, news, books, flights, and finances. Last year, Google added related topics, designated by a plus sign, that “help you dig deeper or discover something new about a specific topic.”
For example, if you’re looking for “dinner ideas,” you might see topics like “healthy” or “easy.” Touching a topic adds it to your query, helping you quickly refine your search results with less typing. Themes are dynamic and will change as you play, giving you more options and helping you explore new areas. For example, if you tapped “healthy,” you might see “vegetarian” or “quick” next.
In recent days, these theme filters have appeared in Google search results for desktop. An “All Filters” dropdown, which is necessary because nothing is fixed in place anymore, as everything is sorted by what Google considers “useful” for each query appears on the right with Tools, which now appears closer to the edge of the screen and may require you to scroll in an unfortunate drawback.
Meanwhile, on mobile (web and app), Google is showing off a carousel layout that lacks any accompanying icons after introducing them a few years ago. On a smaller screen, that removal is quite a bit, as you can see a bit more tiles per screen, while making the carousel more subtle and almost disappear into the background. It is not clear if this change is widely implemented.
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