There is no doubt that the future of the Google search engine will be closely related to artificial intelligence technologies. Like Microsoft, Google has announced that it will integrate Bard’s technology quite deeply into Google Search.
Google’s vice president of search products Liz Reid showed several examples at its annual I/O developer conference of how the company’s search engine will change in the near future with the integration of generative AI. The video posted by Google shows examples of complex search queries that the AI can handle.
According to Google, “With this powerful new technology, we can unlock entirely new types of questions you never thought Search could answer, and transform the way information is organized, to help you sort through and make sense of what’s out there.”
AI-powered Google Search displays an AI snapshot at the top of the search results for users’ search queries. In that snapshot, all data displayed in the search results in the form of a summary is collected using large language models from open internet sources. Although the traditional search results appear below the summary, the snapshot is comprehensive enough to answer most queries.
Google’s updated search feature will now combine AI with Google Shopping to display recommended products, along with related information and suggested questions about the product. Additionally, a new conversational mode, similar to Bing Chat, will allow users to interact with the AI for more accurate search results.
For now, the new AI search can initially only be used via Search Generative Experience program in Google’s test platform Search Labs and only for users in the USA. They have to put themselves on a waiting list.
As generative AI in search rolls out, Google is committed to continuing to drive valuable traffic to sites across the web. Ads will be a building block of how the web works, helping people find relevant products and services. In this new generative experience, Search ads will continue to appear in dedicated ad slots across the page.
