Get Tabular Search Results with Google Squared

Google Squared, a project of Google Labs is an experimental search tool that retrieves information from the web and presents it as an organized collection in the form of a table with multiple rows and columns. With Google Squared, Google goes a step in the direction of Wolfram Alpha in collecting and organizing information and presenting results visually.


Searching for ‘Microsoft’ on Google Squared built a table with rows for each of Microsoft’s products and columns for the corresponding facts, such as logo image, description, License etc. Google has incorporated advertising much deeper into Google Squared than with the regular Google search with ads appearing inside the columns of the Square. The ‘License’ column for the search results had less relevant information and more of the sponsored links (see below image).

Google Squared finds Web pages that have been indexed, just like with a regular search, but presents them in a spreadsheet format that could be more useful to someone doing research on a particular topic. It has a feature where in a user can add another row or column to the search results and Google Squared will automatically attempt to fetch and fill in the relevant facts for this column.

As you remove rows and columns that you don’t need, it refreshes the results by suggesting new rows and columns to add. Clicking on the ‘Add Columns’ text box gives a drop down menu of suggestions. Choosing ‘Release Date’ as a new column and deleting the ‘License’ and ‘Related’ columns in the ‘Microsoft’ square gave the following results:

You can even save the Squares for a later viewing by signing into your Google account. Try searching for different topics on Google Squared to see it in action.