To make the Search experience in Google more natural and intuitive with India-first and India-focused innovations, Google is integrating generative AI in Search results. It is rolling out Search Generative Experience (SGE) in India as an opt-in experiment via Search Labs. This feature is available in English and Hindi.
Google had demonstrated this at Google for India in December last year. To make it more intuitive, users will be able to switch from an English result to Hindi by tapping the language toggle button. There will also be an option to listen to the response with Text-To-Speech by tapping the ‘Listen’ button. Google also intends to roll out voice search soon.
Google says this powerful new technology can unlock entirely new types of questions one never thought Search could answer. It claims this will transform the way information is organized to help people sort through and make sense of what’s out there.
Puneesh Kumar, General Manager - Google Search, India, said, “With new generative AI capabilities in Search, we’re now taking more of the work out of searching. We’re envisioning a supercharged Search that does the heavy lifting for you so you’ll be able to understand a topic faster, uncover new viewpoints and insights, and get things done more easily. The Search Generative Experience is the first step we’re taking in this journey, and part of our vision to make Search radically more helpful. We’re excited to bring this to India and look forward to receiving feedback and iterating on the experience alongside our users over the next few months.”
What does it offer?
With this new feature, users will be presented with an AI-powered overview of key information to consider, with links to dig deeper. Google believes this will be helpful especially for new internet users, who may often get overwhelmed with the amount of information online, finding an answer more quickly can help ease their journey of discovery.
For instance, a question like “Which is a good beginner trek in Himachal and how to prepare for it?” Normally, one might break this one question down into smaller ones, sort through the vast information available, and start to piece things together. With generative AI integrated in Search, they’ll see suggested next steps where they can simply tap a query like “How to take great photos on a trek?”, or type in a specific follow-up question. This conversational mode enables people to intuitively learn more about the topic they’re exploring. Context will be carried over from question to question, to help people more naturally continue their exploration.
Ads will continue to appear in the dedicated ad slots throughout the page and will continue to have a “Sponsored” label.
How to sign up for Search Labs?
Being introduced as an experiment in Search Labs, SGE will be available on Chrome desktop and the latest version of the Google App on Android and iOS. As the access begins today – people can opt-in to try it out and share feedback directly with the teams working on it.
The same can be accessed by tapping the Labs icon in the Google app or Chrome desktop and visiting labs.google.com/search to learn more.
The SGE experiment will be available to opted-in users on Chrome desktop today and is rolling out to the Google App on Android and iOS over the coming week.