Google is working on adding a new feature called ‘Side Search’ to Chrome. Side search will display your most recent Google search results on a sidebar.
What is Side Search
Google is hiding the design document and the feature request bug from us. However, we can access the newly added flags and flag descriptions.
Side search: Enables an easily accessible way to access your most recent Google search results page embedded in a browser-side panel.
Side search clear cache when close: Clears the side search cache when the side panel is closed.
Side search state per tab: Enables a per-tab toggled state for the side search side panel.
We have three new side search-related Chrome flags in the Chromium Gerrit today. The first flag makes it clear that we will see a side panel with search results. We already have a side panel with bookmarks and a reading list. We also see a recent experiment that displays Google Lens results in the side panel.
What is different about the new side search? It says “most recent Google search results.” So it sounds like a place where Chrome will “store” your recent search results to help you quickly go back to them.
Next, the contents of the side search panels are cleared when you close the panel. I thought this would stay till we close the Chrome window, but it looks like you will have to keep the side panel open to continue using this feature.
I am not sure about the third flag. I will flag that as “more testing needed” for now. Do you know what it does? Let me know in the comments section below.
Summary
It looks like Google wants to make the best out of the side panel on Chrome. So the focus is shifting from the New Tab Page to the side panel. I am sure we will see more features and tweaks coming to the side panel. And, of course, we will see Google dropping some side panel features as well.
What do you think about this new feature? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.
Source: Chromium Gerrit.
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