Google search results sometimes contain documents that were not originally formatted to be viewed in a web browser, such as PDFs. In the past, the only way to view the PDF documents was to download them and open them in a separate viewer application. To provide an option, we made it possible to quickly and easily view these files as HTML right in a web browser by clicking "View as HTML." This was an improvement, but unfortunately the "View as HTML" option loses some of the formatting from the original PDF, such as graphics, fonts, tables and other elements.

Today, Google added new links to "Quick View" PDF documents in your browser with the formatting intact. The new links are based on the same technology that's presented in Google Docs and Gmail, as well as to webmasters through the Google Docs viewer. Google have been rolling this technology out to the search results page since July, and as of today Google added "Quick View" links to more than 50% of the PDFs in our index. The new links appear at the end of the second line of the result, right under the title.

For example, here is a search results for the IRS 1099 form:


Clicking "Quick View" will open up the PDF right in your browser with graphics, formatting and tables potted.

Labels: Google, google updates, New feature in google, PDF