c'mon it's a much needed and a good redesign, I suppose the top navigation bar is kept unchanged for further testing, it might eventually include only non duplicate function; gmail, docs, calendar etc.
The options on the left change depending on your query. It’s not entirely redundant.
Searching for facebook privacy shows Blogs first, then News, searching for new york shows Maps, News, Blogs, Images and Videos. Different options in a different order.
That has advantages (displaying Maps first when searching for places seems like a great idea) but also disadvantages: options switch places and are not always immediately accessible. Keeping the top bar (where services have a fixed location and are always displayed) seems like a good compromise. Admittedly not the most elegant thing.
