The preview panel is useful because Bing has it. It's like Google has set out to ape anything Bing does so the only difference is the result quality. - Bing a

The preview panel is useful because Bing has it. It's like Google has set out to ape anything Bing does so the only difference is the result quality. - Bing added a main search page background image, so Google adds one (but only if you're logged in). - Bing changed the image search to pack images together with hover for info, so Google made theirs do the same. - Bing added image search parameters like size, style, etc, so Google adds them too. - Bing added preview panel, so Google added it too. - Bing moved cache links into the preview, so Google moves cache links into the preview. ...iirc Bing did all these things and more first before Google.