Google bumps up search size

We're going to need a bigger (search) box - that seems to be the thinking at Google, which has extended the input box on its homepage and boosted the size of the font.

That may not seem like much, but Google has barely touched its minimalist homepage in the decade it's been around. Just this week, news broke that Google had patented its home page design.

Indeed, a slideshow of the changes to the site over the past decade is notable less for the tweaks than for how similar it is to the page at its original launch.

Yet, from today, the search box is a bit bigger both on the homepage and the results page, while the font is much larger and easier on the eyes.

"Although this is a very simple idea and an even simpler change, we're excited about it because it symbolises our focus on search and because it makes our clean, minimalist homepage even easier and more fun to use," said vice president of user experience and search products Marissa Mayer on the Google blog.

"The new, larger Google search box features larger text when you type so you can see your query more clearly. It also uses a larger text size for the suggestions below the search box, making it easier to select one of the possible refinements," she added.