The long-rumored AI-powered Google Search engine, codenamed Magi, has finally arrived!
As content-generating artificial intelligence (AI) programs have grown in popularity, Google has been under pressure for months to reimagine its core search business. Google revealed more to the public on 10th May 2023.
Google announced a version of its search engine that employs huge language models – AI tools trained on massive amounts of text – to answer users’ questions conversationally at its annual developer conference. The upgrade will only be available in a new, experimental space called “Search Labs,” which people who register for a waitlist will have access to. Certain features may eventually move to the primary search engine, while others will be phased out totally.
Let us look at what Google’s new Search Generative Experience (SGE) is like.
How the new Google search interface appears
The Interface.hl2u
An artificial intelligence-generated response could appear above the search results listings in the new Google search interface. Google clearly marks the result as Generative AI is experimental and then responds with an answer to your query.
The answer is restricted. Google lists the URLs that it used to produce the response. You can click on those websites to learn more. Alternatively, you may ask another question or even use the toggle button in the top right to delve deeper.
The generative AI provides additional responses when you click the expand button to toggle to reveal a more profound answer.
Google provides webpages in these clickable boxes with photos throughout the AI-generated answers, so you may click on the website to learn more.
Vertical Search with AI
It also applies to vertical search experiences like Google Shopping. Google’s SGE can retrieve 35 billion product listings from the Google Shopping Graph, which receives 1.8 billion updates per hour, according to Google. The generative AI must update quickly and practically in real-time to deliver some responses.
When searching for specific types of products, Google can provide an excellent answer as to various products to consider.
Conversations
Adding extra information or new questions to the Ask a Follow-up box will allow you to follow up on your inquiry. Google will then produce a follow-up response.
Google stated that the context would pass from question to question to make your exploration flow more smoothly. Additionally, you will discover helpful starting places for online content and various perspectives you might explore.
According to Google, the conversational mode is especially effective for follow-up queries and advanced or dynamic knowledge journeys.
How this works
Technology
Google stated that this new search experience employs a variety of LLM, including – but not limited to – PaLM2 and MUM.
According to Google, they have specifically trained this search experience to perform duties unique to Search, such as locating high-quality online results that confirm the information given in the output.
Where would Google not help?
You won’t always get answers from Google to your questions. It is attempting to be cautious with this new version of Search, which will only return results for safer inquiries.
We know Google’s ranking algorithms do not allow potentially hazardous, hateful, or explicit information which can surprise or upset users. Similarly, SGE would not display such stuff in its responses.
Google said that they have even higher expectations for this new search experience when it comes to producing results for specific searches where the quality of the material is crucial.
This updated search interface gives even greater importance to providing insightful responses backed by reputable sources.
Google seeks to avoid producing an AI-powered snapshot in case of “information gaps” or “data voids,” where its systems are less confident in their responses. Plus, Google won’t produce an answer for dangerous or explicit topics.
Fluid or Factual
While speaking to Search Engine Land, Elizabeth Reid, VP of Search at Google, stated that people trust responses expressed more fluidly. But because people are more inclined to trust a fluid reply, Google likes to provide more factual than fluid answers.
In generative AI, hallucinations are a significant problem. Google says it is cautious not to provide inaccurate information, especially on YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) themes (like health and finances).
What is Google’s Approach?
Following is Google’s approach to using generative AI in search:
- Information Needs: How can Google make the experience more seamless and fluid while minimizing the steps required for the searcher to fulfill a task or goal?
- Quality of Information: Both the information Google provides in response and the degree of the AI’s response must be of the highest caliber. So, should Google respond to questions about finance or health?
- Safety Limitations: Should Google answer in the first person? Should Google give fluid responses that consumers may rely on to be 100 percent accurate when it can’t possibly verify all the answers?
- Ecosystem: Google aims to drive traffic to the information source and give them credit. It intends to create a user experience that motivates users and searchers to explore such sources further.
- Ads: Can advertisements be pertinent and offer the user extra information? If so, how should they be displayed to the user to maximize their effectiveness?
Links & Citations
In addition to being made up of individual websites, the specific answers in this search experience also prominently display the websites that make them up with a thumbnail image, title, and URL that the user may click on to visit the publisher’s website.
Google, however, would not cite or credit a specific website explicitly. The AI model developed by Google aggregates data from several sources.
Google considers factual support across sources while constructing the responses and showing the citations. These often come from reliable online sources. Many of the signals that Google has been using for years to determine the quality of the material are still in use today.
- Links to original sources
It gives the links to publisher sites in the answer.
- Toggle Deeper
The generative AI then displays more responses with more sources that you can click on, and you can do a deeper dive into more sources by clicking the toggle button in the top right.
- With search results listed below.
A more “snackable” version for traditional search results is also available as you read further downward.
Experience the SGE!
Google discussed its AI guiding principles and emphasized that it takes all these AI technologies seriously.
Before making it available to the first group of users in public, Google has sent out its search quality raters to conduct some preliminary testing over the coming weeks. Search quality raters will give feedback both during this pre-release phase and on an ongoing basis to help improve the overall outcomes and experience of this new method to search. Although they do not directly affect SGE’s output, these ratings help teach the LLMs and enhance the overall experience, said Google.
You may register for the waitlist today and be among the first to check out this new search experience in the upcoming come.
Wrapping Up!
This Google SGE search experience is different! However, it still has a very Google search-like feel to it. Google is also far more effective at linking to publishers to increase website traffic.
The Google search you are accustomed to today is not getting replaced by this experience; however, when that may occur is still unknown. Before officially introducing it as the default search experience on Google.com, we anticipate Google will pay attention to user feedback and make the necessary adjustments.
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Last Modified: July 2, 2024 at 11:09 am
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