Never Leave Home: Gmail Labs Embeds Google Search
The latest feature from Gmail Labs is an embedded Google Web search box that allows users to look for information on the Web without leaving their e-mail screen. The idea behind the new feature is to make it easier for users to find and pass along information.
The Gmail Labs team talked about the new feature on the Official Gmail Labs Blog after it went live yesterday.
"I used to have a problem. People would ask me questions, over chat or e-mail, and I'd have to leave Gmail to search Google for an answer," wrote Adam de Boor, software engineer for Gmail Labs. "Then I'd have to select the answer, copy it, go back to Gmail and paste the answer into the chat window or my reply."
To turn on the Web search feature, select the Labs tab in Gmail and enable the "Google Search" feature that appears in the list.
The search box appears on the left side on the Gmail window, below the chat box, assuming a user hasn't moved chat to the right side of the screen, another feature available through Gmail Labs. Once a search is entered into the box in Gmail, results pop up in a box a bit larger than a normal chat box.
Moving a cursor over the Google search results will produce an icon that will open a drop-down box. From there users have a couple of options. The search results can be opened in a new window or tab, depending on browsing preferences.
In addition, the results can be used to compose a new message with results included at the top. If an e-mail is already in the works, results can be pasted into the message or the URL can be sent. Chat through Gmail also has a new option that runs concurrent with the embedded Google search. If a user is chatting, the results can be sent via chat.