One big complaint about search engines is they are all rather vanilla with their visual representation.  Wouldn’t it be better if you could color code things a ‘bit more?  One Greasemonkey script that does a great job at this is Colorful Search.

Once you install this user script, it will generate a random light background color for Bing, Yahoo and Google.  Colors are decided and grouped together based on the domain name they come from.  So you can quickly see that if Firefox Facts results are light blue, and you see 7 out of the 10 results are light blue, they all came from here.  It makes the visual representation much more useable. 

Want to color code your own search engine results? You can pick up Colorful Search from userscripts.org.

After installing Twitter Search Results on Google, here is an example of what your searches will look like:

It displays the most recent 5 tweets for the query that you are search for, giving both real-time Twitter search results and Google results on the same page.

I have got to say, over the past few weeks I have been pretty happy with the Twitter searches I have done, so mixing these two into one could lead to some really good results.  You have the power of Google mixed with the social aspects of Twitter. 

Once you get Greasemonkey installed (of it it is already installed) then all you need to do is pick up the script for it here at UserScripts.org.  Big thanks to MT-Hacks for providing this to the public too, it is one of the best scripts I have seen for Greasemonkey in a long while.

AutoPager is an extension that will automatically load the next page in a series of links so you have a continuous and infinite scrolling web page.  By default AutoPager works with a ton of sites, including Lifehacker, the New York Times, Digg, and, of course, Google.

What if you want to use this add-on on a web site it was not configured to work with yet?  Check out this tutorial on how to create new rules for the AutoPager extension:

• How to Create AutoPager Rules for New Web Sites

So if you are tired of hitting “Next” then get yourself to the Firefox Add-ons site to pick up this recommended add-on.  If you want to learn more about AutoPager, you can also visit it’s official section over at teesoft.info.

This is an experimental add-on for Firefox that will give you the top ten results in Amazon for every Google search you do.  See something you like?  Click the Amazon link it gives you.

Check out the screencast of it in action here.  Use another search engine?  Don’t worry!  GoogAzon works with Yahoo or MSN Live searches too.  The last feature worth mentioning is the “share” link which allows you to e-mail to your friends (or yourself) with the results displayed.

Download, install and learn more about GoogAzon on it’s official web site or the Firefox Add-ons site.

The idea here is to search right from the search box, rather than be taken to a new page to view your search results.  Inquisitor, over time, will learn to understand you better and tailor your results to suit your needs. 

Keyboard shortcuts, that you can add yourself will help extend the searches to other search engine providers too.

It has pretty written all over it.  Visually, this is one of the best looking add-ons for Firefox I have used in a really long time.  Watch this video tease to see it in action.

For more information, be sure to check out the official site:

• http://www.inquisitorx.com/firefox/

When push comes to shove, I am still a fan of the Firefox search box.  If you want a powerful alternative to Inquisitor though, I would highly suggest the CyberSearch add-on from CyberNet News. 

Best New Firefox Add-ons

• Pencil
• Tagmarks
• HandyTag

Best New Firefox Add-on (the Runners Up)

• Webchunks
• Badges on Favicons
• Devo
• Close ‘N Forget
• Callout
• Reasy

Best Updated Firefox Add-on

• Read it Later 
• TagSifter
• Bookmark Previews

Best Music Firefox Add-on

• Fire.fm

Big congratulations to all of these winners, runners up and everybody who entered.  I am sure the Mozilla judges had a hard time picking the best of the best.  Which is your favorite?

This CustomizeGoogle feature saves you from the hassle of paging through Google web search results. Whenever you navigate to the end of the page, you dont have to hit the next button. CustomizeGoogle automatically fetches next set of results and appends them to the bottom of the page.

Here is a move that explains a little more about what is going on:

I like having the streaming results as I skim through Google Reader, so if you can give me functionality like that on the regular Google searches – well, then consider me sold.

+ Learn More About This Extension and Feature!

It is a pain in the neck to have to open a new tab before I start a new search (if I do not want to have my current tab changed or surfed away from). I just have to believe though that there must be an easier way to do this. Has anybody else been able to find an about:config hack to get it done?

If not – then at least we have this extension to get the job done.

+ Learn More About and Install the searchOnTab Extension for Firefox!