Google only just outed Google Instant but already tech sleuths have uncovered clues that point to the search giant’s next steps. Do two tiny images hidden in plain sight point to the Google Me and Google Questions waiting in the wings? The evidence seems to stack up…
All the major navigation icons used on google.com are stacked up in this image. Google uses it to style up web results pages. But if you look very closely you’ll see two elements that haven’t been deployed on any Google page yet – a question mark and a people icon.
Techcrunch, which spotted the two mysterious Google icons, points out that they could be left over from previous tests or discarded designs but concludes that it’s unlikely. The image name is nav_log16 which indicates that Google regularly updates the file – if those icons weren’t necessary they’d probably have been scrubbed.
The fact that the two odd Google icons are a question mark and a set of people is important. Google nabbed Aardvark, a clever Q+A service, earlier this year for $50m. It hasn’t changed or publicised any plans for it yet. A Google Questions service makes a lot of sense, especially with other products like Quora, Formspring and Facebook Questions out there.
The people icon meanwhile hints at that other frequently rumoured Google secret project – Google Me. The whispers about a new social network from the search giant have been rattling around for months now, could it finally be set to break cover?
Let us know what you make of the pixellated puzzle? Are we making too much of a bunch of icons or do they really suggest Google Questions and Google Me are coming?
Out TBC | £TBC | Google (via Techcrunch)
