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I've had some split tests of this hit me (I think) over the last few weeks.

On my netbook it hid the sidebar (I think this was deliberate and not a split)

I've also had it appearing/disappearing by default on various desktop machines (I think that was a split).

I have to confess it is growing on my as a feature. The icons convinced me to start using the filters and some of them are useful.

Since I have seen it as a trial feature, I haven't liked it, and I commented to Google to that effect. I'd like to disable it entirely, or I will be driven to doing other kinds of searching more often.

After edit: for the rest of you who have seen this feature of the left side tools, have any of you been served up an option to turn it off?

I think usability testing has shown the middle of the page is the most scanned part.