Simply Google is an unofficial portal for Google apps and services. Charles Knight mentioned it in his original Top 100 Alt Search Engines List, as an example of how the famously sparse Google homepage could be enhanced. In Charles' words:
"Instead of squeezing through the keyhole in order to reach Google's 37 search options, Simply Google places all of those choices and many, many more all on the very first page; neatly arranged in columns."
Simply Google creator Chris McEvoy described it recently as "my attempt to expose the hidden google information architecture." While you wouldn't expect Google to sacrifice its super-effective simple homepage for one with hundreds of options, the Simple Google homepage at least demonstrates how many apps Google has to offer these days. No wonder Google almost changed its tagline to "Search, Ads & Apps"!
Simply Google recently turned one year old. Chris shared some stats on that, noting that the site is "currently getting 1,200 visits a day and my busiest period was when Charles Knight talked about SG in his Top 100 Alternative Search Engines list." In fact, Read/WriteWeb was its second biggest referrer over the past year - after (you guessed it) Google itself.
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Nice idea, but I'd expect a more usable design from a place called 'Usability Views' ;) Certainly easier to locate services than on Google itself, but the mass of text boxes is a tad overwhelming.
Posted by: Josh Catone | May 13, 2007 2:42 PM
yes, agree wit the above comment! too much textboxes on one place. Its useful if you know what you are looking for.
Posted by: ajaxus | May 13, 2007 10:34 PM
Ugly but damn useful :)
Posted by: Steffen | May 14, 2007 7:24 AM