No Links, Google’s Experimental Search & Fun Finds

Give Me The Web, Hold The Links

Well, this is new. Greasemonkey scripts are typically extraordinarily useful in helping users make the most out of their Web experience, right? Yes. However this recent one sounds a bit clonky to me.

Lifehacker highlighted a new Greasemonkey script named No Links Please! which actually strips links off any Web page (except Google’s) to prevent users from clicking on every link in the sight and mindlessly surfing the vast Intrawebz. Now users can "focus" on the page at hand. Wow. That’s amazing.

Wait, what? That has to be the most ridiculous script I have ever heard of. How ADD are you that you need someone to strip the links off your Web page in order for you to focus? Do I have to cut your meat too? Why not just print the Web out and make yourself a new book.

I actually think there’s one really cool use to this script. You know that client you have who’s afraid to link out to other Web sites in fear that people won’t come back? Make them surf the Web this way. Show them how ridiculous it is for sites not to link out and to remain completely disconnected from the rest of the online community. Once their frustration and annoyance level hits the appropriate mark it will really drive home the importance of outbound links! Huzzah!

Playing With Google’s Experimental Search

My friend Eric Lander alerted me to the news that Google is testing its Experimental Search within its own search engine results page. Huzzah for fun stuff from Google! Huzzah!

It seems users are now able to sign up for one of Google’s 5 experiments (but only one at a time) and bring it into their normal search results. Your experimental search options are:

• Alternate views for search results
• Keyword suggestions
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Left-hand search navigation
• Right-hand contextual search navigation

I agree with Eric that the Timeline View appears to be the most impressive. It lets you view results on a timeline, map, or in context of other information types. It’s kind of cool to see all the ways Google is able to extract information. The rest of the "experiments" are really just different ways of presenting advanced searching techniques. For example, the fancy Right Hand Contextual Search Navigation experiment is really just Ask.com’s Narrow/Expand search feature. Google must get paid by the word when naming things.

Give Google’s Experimental search a try when you have some time. It’s kind of fun to play around with.

Fun Finds

Joe Lazarus says the MyBlogLog API Could Be A Game Changer and shows how the new Twitter API will be able to pull out all sorts of information about your visitors from third parties like Flickr, Delicious, Twitter, etc. Very interesting stuff.

Rand Fiskin offers advice for startup CEOs. My favorite part is in the comments when Rand calls Chris Howard "a really sweet guy". Rand’s such a girl.

Lisa Barone is a writer, content marketer & VP of strategy at Overit Media. She's also a very active Twitterer, much to the dismay of the rest of the world.

See Lisa's author page for links to connect on social media.