Is Google's Converse the Future of Search?
Google has added a new feature to its search engine called the Google Search Generative Experience (SGE), also known as "Converse." This is Google's way of making search results more helpful. Unlike Microsoft's Bing AI, Google doesn't use a separate chatbot assistant; instead, it directly adds AI to the search bar you're already familiar with.
They started giving access to the SGE in May for users in the United States, and recently, they made it available to users in India and Japan. With this, Google aims to provide concise and organized answers to your search questions, rather than just showing a list of webpages.
New Google Search: What's Different?
In the updated Google search, when you type in your query, it doesn't just show you a long list of regular blue links anymore. Instead, Google presents a few results in gray boxes, followed by a big block of text in light green, generated by artificial intelligence. This AI result gives you the information you need, collected from various sources on the internet and explained in a friendly way.
To the right of this AI-generated result, you'll find a few links that are most relevant to your search. Below the AI result, there are also green boxes that encourage you to explore more by suggesting follow-up questions or allowing you to come up with your own.
If you want to see the original webpages that Google got the information from, you can click into the text of the AI result. And if you prefer the old way of searching, you can switch back to it.
The changes in Google's search approach have the potential to be quite beneficial in the future. By offering more concise and AI-generated results, Google aims to provide users with information in a more accessible format, making it easier to find what they're looking for. The ability to explore suggested follow-up questions can also enhance the search experience.
Will Traditional Google Search Fade Away?
The traditional search page, where you type in a query and get a list of search results, is unlikely to completely die out. It has been a fundamental part of the internet for many years and remains a valuable way to find information quickly.
However, the way search results are presented and the tools available for refining and exploring those results may continue to evolve. Google's introduction of AI-generated results and interactive features is one such example of this evolution. So, while the traditional search page may not disappear, it could coexist with newer, more advanced search experiences in the future. The future of search is likely to involve a combination of familiar methods and innovative approaches.