Google adds formatted PDFs to search results

Google has made it easier for web users to quickly view formatted PDFs within search results.

New 'Quick View' links have been added that will allow users to view a PDF in their browser with all its original formatting.

Previously, it was only possible to download PDF documents and open them in a separate viewer application, or view them as HTML files without the original formatting, such as graphics, tables and fonts.

Google said that it had so far rolled out the links to more than half of the PDFs in its search index.

The new links will appear at the end of the second line of the result, underneath the title of the query.

"Viewing PDF documents in your browser might not make paying taxes any more fun, but hopefully this feature will make it a little bit faster," said Google software engineer Krista Davis and product manager Raj Krishnan in a blog post.

In related news, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt is reported to have said at a New York press conference yesterday that the company had seen signs that Europe is starting to recover from the financial crisis.

Schmidt also acknowledged the recent Gmail outages, and said that the company would work to fix future ones more quickly.