Google is experimenting with a change to how Chrome’s address bar shows Google searches. Normally, when you search from the address bar, Chrome shows the full results URL, something like google.com/search?q=…, with extra parameters. The experiment, called Query in Omnibox, shows only your search terms in the address bar instead of the search URL.
What Query in Omnibox does
The work is visible in Chromium’s code reviews. A change merged on September 19, 2018, described as continuing the Query in Omnibox feature on desktop, made two adjustments:
- When the address bar (the “omnibox”) displays search terms, it now shows the default search provider’s icon next to them, so you can tell it is a search and not a web address.
- The omnibox no longer tries to expand (“unelide”) the hidden URL parts while it is displaying the search terms.
The result is a cleaner address bar: you see the words you searched for, with the search engine’s icon, rather than a long string of URL parameters. The feature is tracked as Chromium bug 874592.
How to try it
The experiment sat behind a flag that users referred to as chrome://flags/#enable-query-in-omnibox. To test a flag like this:
- Type chrome://flags in the address bar and press Enter.
- Search for Query in Omnibox.
- Set it to Enabled and click Relaunch.
- Search for something from the address bar and look at what Chrome shows after the results load.
Flags are experimental, can change without notice and can be removed in later builds. If a flag causes trouble, set it back to Default, or reset Chrome to its default settings.
Why some people worry about it
Hiding the URL means you can’t see at a glance which site produced the page. For search results that is a small loss, but it is one reason experiments that hide parts of web addresses get close attention. Checking the real address before typing a password remains a good habit, and Chrome’s site settings panel still shows which site you are on.
Today
Chrome’s address bar still sends whatever you type to your default search engine. You can choose that engine in Settings > Search engine > Change, and add site search shortcuts under Manage search engines and site search to search a specific site straight from the address bar.
