Google Wheel

Thanks to Darren at ProBlogger, I’ve just found Google Wheel!

So, where is it and what does it do? Pop on over to Google (you can click the logo to the right, it’ll open in a new window) and perform a search. For this example I’ll do a search on “blackboard vs moodle“).

The search results will look something like this … but the bit we’re interested in is actually a little link above the results:

Click ‘Show Options’ and you will get a new set of links appear down the left hand side of the results. Towards to bottom of the list you’ll see “Wonder Wheel”. Click it.

You now have the page split into three columns. The first is the same options list you’ve just been looking at, and the third column (right-hand side) are the search results. However, and this is the really cool bit, the middle is now showing your search term surrounded by similar searches. By clicking on any of the ‘related’ searches linked you can drill-down into the search and subject (or related subjects) easily.

Each related search you do in the Wheel will update the search results on the righ-hand side. This is hugely impressive, and a much better way to search.