Rumor: Google is testing interactive timeline in search results

Google seems to be working on an interactive timeline that can be shown in search results. This would allow users, for example, to view a chronological overview of a historical event.

The search giant has not announced the functionality yet, but Google follower Florian Kiersch has shown the functionality in screenshots. It is unclear how Kiersch got information about the service and whether the information is correct, but previously he was the first to show the ‘social bookmarking service’ Google Stars to the world and put its Chrome extension online.

The timeline will appear, among other things, when someone searches for historical events, but a search for ‘Google’ also yields a timeline. Users can hover over events with their mouse to see more information, and can click on an event to search for it again. It’s unclear when the timelines would actually be available to the general public; according to Kiersch, the functionality appears to be still in its early stages. For example, the design of the timeline is not yet in line with Google’s design guidelines.