Some very exciting new search features were introduced at Google’s Search On 2022. The event included a range of Google Search experts discussing the latest features and tools that make search more natural and intuitive to find what you’re looking for.
Google’s mission is to “Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” It’s transforming search from its traditional method by combining, images, sound, text, and speech, making search more ‘ natural and intuitive” presented Google’s SVP Prabhakar Raghavan at the event. “The age of visual search is here and your camera is a powerful way to access information and understand the world around you.” he added.
Read on for a recap of the event. I’ve added the full event link above in case you’d like to watch it.
Searching and Exploring ‘Visually’
“Your camera is your next keyboard”, since the introduction of Lens search, it has been used 8 billion times a month, making it a popular method to search, the MultiSearch feature is an exciting feature, where you can search with a picture and modify it with text. Check it out in the video example below. it’s currently available in English and will be coming to 70+ languages in the next few months. The addition of MultiSearch ‘near me’ later this year, will help you find and connect with local business
With advances in machine learning, you can now blend translated text into complex images using GAN models. Another amazing feature Google introduces it’s Lens AR Translate, where Google can translate via images.
For those in e-commerce, there is a greater need to optimize images and provide more information to describe the image.
New Ways to Explore
Google is launching a faster way to help you find what you need with a Rich preview of Information that includes:
- Easier to ask questions, by helping specify the question
- Digging Deeper by exploring and discovering facts, images, and short videos in your search
- Display results in a different way with various formats.
Maps: Immersive View
With advancements in computer vision and predictive models, Google wants to bring Maps to life in a more visual ad immersive way by building a visual-first Maps experience to help users navigate more naturally. The new features will allow users to explore the area before visiting, including the weather, traffic, crowds, and the neighborhood vibe. These features will roll out in the next months in select Cities. Insight from users, who have contributed 20 million daily reviews, photos, and more, combined with Google’s information about a place, is what makes this possible.
Google is radically transforming the way you can explore places nearby with the Search with ‘Live View’ on Google Maps. Soon, you’ll be able to lift your phone, tap on the camera in the Maps Search Bar and instantly see what’s around you. Coffee shops, ATMs, Stores, etc.
These Google Maps improvements are big for local businesses, and I highly recommend they optimize their Google My Business page and map presence.
Shopping With Confidence
People shop with Google 1 billion times a day. Some new features and tools for easier shopping were introduced:
A ‘Shop the look:’ suggestions to complete your look and ‘Trending now’ have been activated, you can access these features today by adding ‘shop’ in your keyword search, followed by what you are looking for.
‘People engaged with 3D images 50% more than static ones.’ Although some merchants have this feature already, many smaller businesses don’t. Google will help merchants create 3D images for their products.
Other features include a ‘Buying Guide’, which collects helpful insights from a wide rand of trusted sources all in one place. A ‘Page Insights’, provides helpful context about a web page or product.
Overall a more personalized shopping experience, with whole-page shopping filters that adapt to search trends. As well as ‘Discover’ which helps you stay on top of what you’re into.
Google embraces the idea that search is a system for exploration and discovery and not a question and answer system. I’m delighted to see these advances in search, and little surprises from an SEO perspective. Generally speaking, a focus on ‘useful and informative content’ was emphasized throughout the event. It’s important to focus on schema tagging to tell Google more information about the page and its content.
