Discover is coming to desktop web, currently being tested on Google.com

Google has long since decided it would keep the main Google.com search page simple and clean. In fact, back when the search engine first launched, testers sat in front of their display for an entire minute or more waiting for “the rest to load”, but there was nothing left to load.

In a day and age where most other providers like Yahoo, MSN, Dogpile, Ask Jeeves and more cluttered their search homepage with news, weather and more, Google took an almost opposite approach. In the years since, it’s added many of these features across its other services, specifically Google News, but mobile users have had the luxury for a long time now to utilize Google Discover on their phones.

In addition to accessing it with a quick swipe to the right with their finger on the homescreen of Pixel and other Android devices, it’s also made its way to the new tab page of Chrome for Android, and appears just under the search bar there.

Now, per MSPowerUser, Google is testing this same design on Google.com for desktop! That’s right, after years and years of me begging them to do this, it’s finally happening. I initially had them reach out to me a few days ago about this, but since then, The Verge has confirmed the feature is, in fact, in testing.

While only available to a select group of users at this time, I can see this becoming a staple for all Google Accounts in the future. In fact, if you’re familiar with iGoogle, the tech giant’s attempt at a start page, you’ll know that this is them wading back into that territory, even if just a bit less complex and more well thought out.

My only hope is that this doesn’t become overly cluttered, but with Discover maintaining a clean and compact look in recent times (aside from the freaking ads you can’t dismiss), I’m sure it will be fine. I know, famous last words, right? Other modules like shopping items and such may make their way into the mix via Discover for Android, but at least the format is a consistent vertical feed of information. So long as that’s still the case, I’m good.

You’ll also notice there’s an ‘At a glance’ widget on the right side, which is vastly different from what we’re accustomed to on mobile. However, with the recent revamp of the ‘At a glance’ widget that appears at the top of Pixel phones and displays all sorts of great information like time it takes to travel to a destination, upcoming calendar events and more, I can see this being a good addition. Please, Google, please just let us turn off stocks and other information we find less useful to the experience for us.