Only a few Google Chrome users know that there is a fake Google search box in the browser. Its presence is so subtle that even the best of us could fall for it.
The fake Google search box is present in the new tab of Google Chrome, right in the center. You may have noticed that as soon as you start typing in the search box, the browser immediately redirects users to the Google Chrome address bar.
Google search box in front of Chrome address bar
Strange to the right! It does not make any sense. Google Chrome's new tab page offers two search fields, which are essentially the same.
Google put the fake search bar in 2012 as an experimental feature and has kept it there ever since. While we're not sure, it's not unreasonable to believe that Google did it to make the search bar more accessible.
We are likely to click on a giant search box, which replicates a familiar Google search in place of the little address bar.
How to turn it into a real one?
You may not appreciate the fake search box as it doesn't offer any advantage over the address bar. However, Google provides a way to change the fake search field into a real Google search bar.
Here is how we can have it:
- Write chrome://flags in google chrome search
- Look for the "real search box on the New Tab page."
- Enable function flag.
- Restart the browser.
Now the search box in the center of the Google Chrome home page will behave like a real Google search.