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Google’s generative search results turn the normally white results page into a range of pastels.
Google
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An example of a search for Bluetooth speakers. The normal list of links doesn’t start until the bottom of this screenshot.
Google
Google’s “Search Generative Experience” is a plan to put ChatGPT-style generative AI results on your Google search results page, and the company announced that the feature is starting to roll out today. At the very least, the feature is launching mobile apps for people who are on the waiting list and have been selected as early access users.
Unlike the typical white Google page with 10 blue links, Google’s generative AI results appear in colorful boxes above normal search results. Google will scrape a lot of information from all over the Internet and present it in a convenient list, with links to buy at Best Buy and manufacturers’ websites.
If it spreads widely, it will be the biggest change to Google Search results ever, and this design threatens to upend the entire Internet. An example screenshot of searching for “Bluetooth speaker” on the desktop shows a large row of “Sponsored” shopping ads, then the generative AI results start to show a big blue box about halfway -middle of the first page. The blue box summarizes a set of information obtained from anywhere and lists several completely unsourced statements and opinions about each speaker. In the example of Google, users are never told where this information comes from, so they cannot make any judgment about its reliability. All the links appear to go to the manufacturer’s websites and below the blue box, about two or three screens down, there are links to more neutral external websites. The ultimate goal of the scheme seems to be “no one ever clicks on an external search link again,” and that would force many sites to shut down.
For now, at least, generative AI results are opt-in. You need to open the Google Search app and tap the new “lab” beaker in the top left. Then you can select ‘Search Labs,’ which includes ChatGPT-style results. You just join a waiting list at that point, and if it works like Bard, a full release could be months away. When Google announced the whole idea of ”Search Labs”, it said that the features would be “available for a limited time.”
Google image listing
