Photo Hosting Site Flickr Improves Search Result Pages

One of the latest search engine trends seems to be search controls for refining searches. Google added some advanced search controls not long ago to Google Search and Google Image Search. Now the photo hosting site and community Flickr redesigns the search results page to provide users with additional information and controls.

The Flickr Search results now display a small bar above the actual photos that have been returned as search results that can be used to change the view of the photos from the default small view to medium, detail or slideshow. Sorting can also be changed from relevant to either recent or interesting.

Small and medium photo search results display a small i icon in the lower right corner when hovering the mouse over them. A click on the icon will open a detailed view of the photo in the foreground. Another click on the photo will close that foreground image.

A right sidebar on the search results page is now showing groups, photographers, tags and locations that are closely related to the search term. Those items can be used to explore related photos, photographers, groups and locations.

Some searches do now include information on top based on the search parameters of the user. It is for example displaying if the search was only performed in the Creative Commons section and dates if a date filter has been set.

[source Flickr Blog]

The updates improve the search experience on Flickr considerable. Especially the option to view a larger version of an image on the results page saves you valuable time while browsing the results. Instead of having to click through, you can now see the larger version right on the page without having to leave it or open the image in another browser tab.

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