In the modern world, everybody knows about Google. It’s the buddy that helps you out with your queries, and concerns and is the best for learning.
Google is our go-to place every single day, thanks to its user-friendly dynamics and easy availability. With easy access to the internet, we can gain knowledge about anything, anywhere.
Google ensures that its users are at ease when searching for anything, thus it has evolved to become more accessible to everyone.
Therefore, it has changed from showing a centered in a fixed-width layout to a left-aligned search results page.
The primary reason for the left alignment of the search results page is to make it easier for the user to scan the listing of results, for instance, if the user doesn’t feel like clicking on the first result, he might want to click on the second one.
This was just a sneak peek, more is to be discussed in this article related to this topic so stick with us until the end.
Reasons Why Google Appears Left Aligned
Google has been careful to provide users with the best experience while browsing on its site. Thus it has taken important measures to keep the user engaged. One such measure is shifting the search results page to the left corner alignment.
For both mobile and computer users, Google aims to show search results that are easy to view, read and proceed with.
If a user scans the permalink and meta description of a result and feels unsatisfied, he switches to other results ranking on the Google search results page.
This way the user’s time is not overconsumed and he or she seems content with Google’s services.
Google is well aware that a user is more likely to get distracted or lost in blank spaces appearing on the left and right side of a centered aligned page.
Henceforth, the left-aligned search results page is more likely to keep the user focused and attentive to the content he’s trying to search.
Google needs sufficient space to add its new features at a blank space, therefore we see search results viewing at the left alignment.
One example of such a feature is the “card” that provides the basic information related to the search if the result is a navigational link.
Moreover, from a perspective of its benefit, Google places ads on the right side of the left-aligned page, ensuring that the arrangement of ads doesn’t distract or burdens users with visual noise.
Google has established a help community of users on its search help site where people help out each other with their queries or concerns.
According to a member of the community, left alignment on the search results page occurs due to an experimental change by Google Live experiments.
Well, Google does this frequently, with some changes being unnoticeable while others being evident on its image and search results interfaces.
To report the issue directly to Google, you can send feedback to Google by clicking on the feedback link.
How To Change Text Alignment On Google?
Wondering how to change the text alignment on Google, according to your desire?
Well, you can change the text alignment to your fulfillment as Google allows its users to customize and personalize the search results page.
On Windows, you can change the text alignment of the search results page by long pressing the Ctrl, Shift, and J keys simultaneously. Whereas if you are a Mac user, hold Cmd, Shift, and J instead.
The address bar appearing on the left alignment can be quite uncomfortable and uneasy, causing difficulty to read.
However, you can make respective changes to move the address bar to the center where it is clearer to interpret information.
To shift the address bar to the right side, simply long-press the ctrl and shift the button to the right side of the keyboard. To return to its original position, key press ctrl and the left side shift button.
How To Change Text Alignment On Google Apps
Google has introduced numerous applications that are functional for all Google users. For instance, for emailing we use Gmail, for writing we use Google Docs, etc.
Here’s how you can change text alignment on Google Docs and Gmail:
| Application | For right alignment | For center alignment | For left alignment |
| Google Docs | Select the text and press Ctrl, Shift, and R simultaneously | Select the text and press Ctrl, Shift, and E simultaneously | Select text and press Ctrl, Shift, and L simultaneously |
| Gmail | Select the desired text and press A and R keys simultaneously | Select the text and press A and C keys simultaneously | Highlight the desired text and press A and L keys simultaneously |
Which One’s Better: Google vs. Bing
If you are looking for search engines other than Google, there are many less popular search engines in the market. Bing (presented by Microsoft) is a competitor, being the second most popular search engine.
However, it’s clear that Google is far better than Bing for a few of these reasons:
- Google introduces exciting new features like Doodle and apps like Drive, Forms, Docs, News, Weather, and more to maximize its usage and increase popularity in the market.
- Google was introduced in 1998 while Bing came later in 2009. Google was earlier than Bing which means it was already being used and was better known in the market.
- Google seems like an easy business and more interactive than Bing which feels like a complex place to be.
- We all are more familiar and connected to Google in our daily lives than Bing as it’s more accessible.
We would recommend you give Bing a try for once and compare both search engines for yourself!
Conclusion
In this article, we discussed these main points:
- Google shows its search results page on the left alignment for numerous reasons.
- A few of those are to scan the results in a better way, without wasting time, and to view ads on the right side without crowding space.
- Results showing up towards the left side can be a consequence of Google making constant experimental variations with its browser.
- You can change text alignment by long pressing the Ctrl, Shift, and J keys simultaneously if you’re using Windows. Whereas if you are a Mac user, hold Cmd, Shift, and J instead.
- The table above instructs how to align texts on different Google apps like Gmail and Google Docs where text format matters a lot.
- There are other search engines to be tried out as a replacement for Google. One of them is Microsoft’s Bing.
- You’ll find that Google provides a much better and cleaner user experience than Bing as it’s still new in competition with Google. Thus we recommend you try out Bing at least once and compare both search engines for yourself!
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