Google Mobile Search Tests Sub-sitelinks

Google's mobile search site experiments with a different interface for sitelinks. The updated version hides the snippets for sitelinks and lets you expand lists of sub-sitelinks. Instead of only listing the most important sections of a site, Google's new features also shows some popular subsections.

"The links shown below some of Google's search results, called sitelinks, are meant to help users navigate your site. Our systems analyze the link structure of your site to find shortcuts that will save users time and allow them to quickly find the information they're looking for," explains Google.

Here's the new interface:

... and here's what happens when you expand a sitelink:

Another example:

This is the regular mobile UI:

Google mentioned a similar feature for the desktop site last year: "this improvement digs deeper into megasitelinks by showing sub-sitelinks instead of the normal snippet." I haven't noticed this feature and it doesn't seem to be available in the desktop interface.

Reduce Data Usage in Chrome for Android

The latest release of Chrome Beta for Android added an interface for the data compression proxy. You no longer have to enable a flag, just open Chrome's menu, go to the settings, select "Bandwidth management", "Reduce data usage" and enable the feature.

You can start visiting your favorite sites and check back the "Bandwidth management" to see some stats. For more detailed stats, type chrome://net-internals in the omnibox and select the "Bandwidth" section in the left sidebar.

My total savings percentage is 33.5%. It's less impressive than Opera Mini's 90% savings percentage, but Opera Mini is not a browser. It's just a thin client app and all the rendering and JavaScript processing is performed on Opera's servers, so Opera Mini only needs a simplified OBML file. It's more appropriate to compare Chrome's data compression proxy with Opera Turbo, a feature available in the Opera Mobile browser. "In November 2009, the average compression rate for Opera Turbo was 63.6%," according to an Opera report [PDF], while in April 2011 the average compression rate was 60.5%. Apparently, Opera incorrectly defines compression rate as the savings percentage. An explanation for Opera's better performance could be that Chrome is more likely to load mobile pages than Opera Mobile, which usually loads desktop sites. Mobile pages are already optimized, so there's not much to compress.

New Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts

Here are some new Gmail keyboard shortcuts:

d - open a compose window in a new tab (Shift+c opens it in a new window)

, - moves the cursor to the first button in your Gmail toolbar

{ - archives the current conversation and moves to the older one

} - archives the current conversation and moves to the next one.

There are some subtle differences between [ ("Removes the current view's label from your conversation and moves to the older one") and { ("Archives the current conversation and moves to the older one") or between ] and }. Their effect is identical when you read conversations from your inbox. If you open a conversation from any other label, [ will remove that label from the conversation, while { will remove the conversation from the inbox.

The Gmail shortcuts page has been recently changed and these are the new shortcuts I've noticed.

Google Tests a New Homepage Footer

Google tests a new interface for the homepage's footer. It includes a cookie disclaimer required by a European Union directive and a settings menu similar to one that's available on Google's search results pages.

"Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies," informs Google and links to this page. Many sites have annoying cookie warnings and I'm sure that most people ignore them, so the EU directive was a bad idea.

{ Thanks, Florian. }

A Bogus DMCA Takedown Request

Google has recently sent an email which informed me that "Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that certain content in your blog is alleged to infringe upon the copyrights of others. As a result, we have reset the post(s) to 'draft' status."

Apparently, this is the infringing post: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/02/lyrics-for-youtube-music-videos.html (Google Cache). It's a post about a Greasemonkey script that allowed you to show music lyrics in the YouTube interface.

I was curios to read the DMCA complaint, but Google doesn't send it. Instead, it uploads the document to ChillingEffects and suggests to use this page to find it. Unfortunately, the ChillingEffects search feature doesn't work, so you have to use Google's site operator to search for [site:chillingeffects.org domainname.com].

I've managed to find the DMCA notice: "The URL listed below is one of nearly 20 song lyrics sites who have attempted to post lyrics for the song titled 'Alden Howell' by the artist Inspection 12. The lyrics posted on this and other sites are not accurate and the artist has not given them permission to post lyrical content. Inspection 12 has been making efforts to contact these websites directly in order to have the content removed. We are attempting to have this URL and others like it to be excluded from google search results for the name 'Alden Howell'."

Unfortunately for Inspection 12, that blog post doesn't include their lyrics. In fact, it only includes a screenshot with lyrics from a much more popular punk band. Inspection 12 has never contacted me and no post from this blog mentions 'Alden Howell' (except for this post, obviously).

Google has a counter-notification form. "The administrator of an affected site or the provider of affected content may make a counter notification pursuant to sections 512(g)(2) and (3) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or other applicable law. When we receive a counter notification, we may reinstate the material in question," mentions Google.

Update: Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

Gmail Shortcuts That Are Enabled by Default

Gmail is the only Google service that disables keyboard shortcuts by default. They're for power users and some people could accidentally trigger them, especially when you consider that most Gmail shortcuts don't use modifiers.

Google has recently added some new shortcuts that are enabled by default. The old shortcuts are still disabled by default, but you can quickly enable them by pressing ? in Gmail and clicking "Enable" next to "The following keyboard shortcuts are currently disabled".

I've already mentioned some of them, but here is the full list of shortcuts that are enabled by default (you can't disable them):

- arrow keys: you can use the up/down arrows to navigate in a list of conversations and press Enter to select one of them. Gmail automatically loads the previous/next page of conversations. Use the left arrow key and then the up/down arrow keys to move your cursor to a different label or the compose button.

- n/p: if you open a conversation with multiple messages, use the n/p keys to go to the next or previous message. Press Enter to load that message if it's collapsed.

- Ctrl+Enter: use this shortcut in the compose window to send a message.

- Shift+Esc: focus the main window.

- Esc: focus the latest chat or compose window.

- Ctrl+. or Ctrl+,: move the cursor to the next/previous chat or compose window, or to the main window.

- Ctrl+Shift+c: add CC recipients in the compose window.

- Ctrl+Shift+b: add BCC recipients in the compose window.

- Ctrl+Shift+f: change the From email address in the compose window.

- A long list of shortcuts for formatting text when you compose a message.

Ctrl+Shift+2 - insert emoticon
Ctrl+Shift+7 - numbered list
Ctrl+Shift+8 - bulleted list
Ctrl+Shift+9 - quote text
Ctrl+[ - indent less
Ctrl+] - indent more
Ctrl+Shift+l - align left
Ctrl+Shift+e - align center
Ctrl+Shift+r - align right

Some of them were already available in the old compose interface:

Ctrl+b - bold text
Ctrl+i - italic text
Ctrl+u - underline text
Ctrl+k - insert link

Obviously, Mac users should replace Ctrl with ⌘.

Card-Style Google Translate OneBox

After the instant results for definitions and local time, Google's translation OneBox has a new card-style interface inspired by Google Now.

To trigger this OneBox, search for "translate", followed by the text you want to translate. For example: [translate mein luftkissenfahrzeug ist voller aale]. You could also add the destination language: [translate mein luftkissenfahrzeug ist voller aale into french].

You can also search for [word in language] or [word to language]. For example: [breakfast in Spanish], [estrella to English]. This also works for short phrases and expressions.

{ Thanks, Arpit. }