The name of Google Blog Search has always been both self-explanatory and complete; the product, which was made by Google, helped users search the blogosphere. But now Google Blog Search has a new homepage that encourages casual browsing, as well.
The left side of the page presents different topics (politics, business, science) that users can explore. Everything else is dedicated to presenting specific stories grouped into clusters. Think of it as the blog version of Google News with less organization and no pictures.
The New Google Blog Search
The one unique feature relates to the way in which Google Blog Search counts the sources covering a story. Click on the green number, and you’ll see a graph depicting how coverage has risen and fallen over time (in addition to all of the source blogs).
There are some slight negatives, however. First, while pointing out differences between Blog Search and Techmeme, Matt Cutts wrote, “Techmeme focuses on very reputable blogs.” So you may see some whack jobs or spammers thrown in with the more unique voices. Later Cutts continued, “Techmeme is faster to pick up new stories.” So Blog Search may not be great with breaking news.
Google is sure to continue fine-tuning things over time, though, and the site doesn’t seem to have lost any of the search functionality it used to offer.
