Google gives its search service a major update
Google has explained the future plans for its search service. The company will focus on a visual way to find information, including AMP Stories and relevant videos.
According to Google, there are three shifts in search that are the result of advances in neural networks to better understand language. The first shift is from answers to “journeys,” where Google introduces users to new interests and hobbies in fulfilling information needs. The second shift is from searches to serving relevant information even when the user has no searches in mind. Finally, Google will show information more visually than before and therefore less textually.
With regard to the latter, Google will use artificial intelligence to create AMP Stories and display them in its search engine. AMP Stories is Google’s project to allow publishers, among others, to quickly create ‘visual stories’. Initially, automatically generated AMP Stories about celebrities and athletes will appear in the search list. A click on the format leads the user to more information.
Google will also show more videos when searching. According to the company, the search engine can show relevant videos through a better understanding of the content of the images, powered by computer vision. For example, in searches related to a planned walking tour, Google may show suggestions for videos that give an impression of the area.
Google Images is getting an update on the desktop to show more information about the images, including the name of the site where it was found. This change was already implemented on mobile. Google Images’ algorithms give a higher ranking to sites with prominent, good images as well as good content and sites that can be considered as authority.
Finally, Google is integrating its Lens service into Images. The Lens technology identifies elements in the found images for more information, but users can also select parts in images themselves.
From left to right: AMP Stories, videos in Search, Images and Lens