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Google Launches wdl.com

What do you love? Google wants to know, so it just soft-launched wdyl.com with the hope of creating a "unified [user interface] to search in multiple channels." "While it seems to be more of a cute gimmick at this time, the idea is to return users a single page of relevant results across many of Google's products for whatever query is typed into the wdyl search box," TechCrunch explains. "The ‘search' button is even a heart. Cute."

"Over the years, Google has continued to add new products, services, portals, and features to their portfolio," Search Engine Land writes. "Keeping up on all that Google has to offer has been hard."

"While WDYL is reminiscent of iGoogle's layout, it still seems peculiar to us that Google would allow its employees [to spend time creating] something that's so surprisingly unhelpful," remarks Digital Trends. "But perhaps that's not its purpose. In fact, the only reason we can think that WDYL exists, really, is to showcase the many ways Google allows you to find the particular kind of information you're looking for."

So, "Is it a curiosity, the product of one of Google's 20% initiatives, or a promotional toy Google is going to use?" Fast Company asks. "Who cares when Goog [sic] does good design work!?"  Indeed, as TechCrunch adds, "The most striking thing about the new site is that it seems pretty well designed -- not always a given with Google."

"The whole thing is nice and social, too," writes Web Pro News. "You can share using all kinds of services like Gmail, Google Buzz, and...oh wait, that's all." That said, "The quality of the results ... indicates that Google should probably work a bit more to add some diversity, since the results become predictable after a few terms," according to Softpedia.

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