The takeaway:
Google Squared displays your search results in a table (aptly named “squares”) rather than within a simple list.

Google Squared logoUsing Google Squared is a very cool way to view and organize your search results, arranging them any way you see fit within a grid. This is especially helpful when you’re comparing items for which your searching. You can easily tweak your search by adding additional keywords thereby amending your current table.

You can save these squares and even share them via Google Docs. *Pretty awesome if you’re helping your kid with a school report? ;)

Here’s a brief overview video from the folks at Google:

(narrative a bit gooby, but informative) =)

Example Search Using Google Squared:

Perhaps you want to know about and compare volcanoes around the world: types, images, where, last eruption, etc ., etc…. If you were to search normally it would take tons-o-time gather the info. But using Google Squared, all you have to do is key in [ volcanoes ] into the search box at https://www.google.com/squared and click “Square it” create a killer table of volcanoes and all attendant info.

Here, I’ve done it for you:
https://www.google.com/squared/search?q=volcanoes&spell=1

Some of the additional things that you can do to customize your search within Google Squared:

  • Customize each Square to see only the items and attributes in which you’re interested
    (you can click the X to delete some of the attributes or results you didn’t want)
  • See each website that delivered the information in your Square.
  • Add to your Square by appending new search results (instead of adding rows, 1 by 1)
  • Save and share Squares with others within Google Docs (working collaboratively can be huge!)

You can actually help make Google Squared better as it can learn from your additions/corrections/deletions. Over time this helps gradually improve the app for all users, so take the time to clean and correct your work and help make the world a better place. #payitforward (at this point the app isn’t perfect… so you may encounter a few errors. but still worth using)

Did you learn something new? Then why not share it? (below) =)