Google's search results are taking on a new look. As reported by the Google blog, the layout and design of the search results page have been given an overhaul and users will now see search results presented in a slightly different way.

The most noticeable change is the addition of the 'contextually relevant', left-hand navigation to the search results page. These options used to be more hidden and available through a small link at the top of the search page, but Google has now decided to make these more evident and also match the layout of the search page that Bing presents. On regional search versions of Google, the 'pages from' search option has now disappeared from the main search page and can only be accessed from this side panel once an initial search has been made.

The new side panel also highlights the most relevant search tools and refinements for a search query, so it takes in the 'Universal Search' options, such as images, videos, news, books and more, as well as recency filters and other search refinement tools.

In addition to the addition of the left-hand side search options, Google has also updated the look and feel of the search results in terms of the colour palette and logo. As Google says in the blog post, "these changes are slight, keeping our page minimalist and whimsical, but make our overall look more modern".