Google is looking to offer more visual, personal, and “snackable” results with its search engine. According to the Wall Street Journal, internal documents suggest that integration of generative artificial intelligence is imminent. Google is currently facing increasing competition from AI startups and Microsoft’s Bing.
The internal documents suggest that Google Search will include more social media posts and short videos in search results. This would mark the first time the search engine moves away from dependence on the “10 blue links”.
Google is also expected to focus on answering queries that traditional web results can’t easily survey. This may include follow-up questions and visual elements such as TikTok videos. Google wants to accommodate users if there is no clear answer to their questions, according to prominent figures within the company.
Google is aiming to support content creators in the same way that Google Search has done for websites for the last two decades. Documents suggest that recording “human voices” will be a critical part of this adaptation. Google executives have reportedly stressed that the use of conversational AI features in search products should not raise concerns among website owners, partly due to the inclusion of resource links.
Google will likely unveil the revamped search feature at the annual Google I/O developer conference, starting May 10. The company will also debut a new AI project called “Magi” at the event, which will allow users to converse with an AI bot. Reports say that a large group of employees have already tested Magi. Magi should offer users a more personalized experience based on anticipating user needs. It is unclear at this point whether there is a connection between Magi and Google’s first generative AI tool, Bard, which launched in February. Bard’s debut did not go smoothly, as the chatbot gave a wrong answer to a question during a demo, leading to a drop in Google’s market cap worth $120 billion. Google will likely be more careful with its I/O presentation.
