Google Search

Over the past few years, Google Search has added 3D models for various animals, dinosaurs, insects, planets, and other education items. Google is now introducing AR Pac-Man, 3D Hello Kitty, and Gundam with 14 iconic Japanese characters in total. 

Last year, Google announced Search would use page speed and other metrics that better reflect how users experience the web to rank results in 2021. Google today provided more details and a timeline about the upcoming “page experience update.”

Google celebrated the landing of Perseverance in February with virtual fireworks, and today has a more elaborate Search easter egg for Ingenuity becoming the “first aircraft in history to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet.”

A small tweak to Google.com on desktops now lets you quickly “jump to the search box” with a convenient keyboard shortcut. It’s particularly useful for refining your original query. 

Google is making a tweak to Search on desktop web that sees the results page adopt a more responsive design. Still in testing, it follows the homepage abiding by the same principle.

The latest beta version of the Google app includes a redesign of the homescreen Discover feed on Android 12 that revamps the header and removes the search bar.

Google today announced a ranking system update that changes what Search considers a good product review, and in turn what sites end users will see when looking up products.

During the NCAA Final Four this evening, Google aired its “Get back to what you love” ad and the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive for both the emotional impact and how well-crafted it was in encouraging people to get the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Over the past week, Google Discover has made two tweaks to the feed’s design. The first sees Posts on Google get a more prominent Discover layout, while sports carousels have been removed to improve usability.

Google offers a dedicated Finance portal that shows you news in addition to charts and other trend data. That said, most users make do with entering ticker symbols in Search to find the price of stocks, with Google recently revamping the desktop experience.

Google Weather in Search for Android was last redesigned in 2019, and the desktop experience is now seeing a handful of tweaks that help modernize the old UI.

For the past two years, it seemed that Google was on track to replace “Voice Search” on Android with Assistant. That might not be the case anymore as a more modern UI for Google Voice Search is now being tested.

Google Search has historically evaluated “all content on a web page to determine if it is relevant to a query.” Back in October, alongside the launch of Hum to Search, Google announced passage ranking, and it’s now starting to roll out. 

Last month, Google revamped Search on Android, iOS, and mobile with a focus on making results easier to read. A similar look has long been in development for the desktop web, with users able to preview it on COVID-19 queries. Google’s desktop redesign is now also available for music-related searches.

Over the past few years, Google has been working to reduce the need for users to perform follow up queries. Google Search is now streamlining that further with an “About this result” panel that provides direct information about websites before clicking.

While night modes are pervasive on Android and iOS, they are less common on large screen form factors. Google is now A/B testing a dark mode for Search on desktop web.

Google today announced several efforts to aid COVID-19 vaccine distribution in the US. CEO Sundar Pichai announced $150 million in ad grants, while various Google products will soon display local information.

On Friday, Google announced a big redesign of the mobile Search experience. Some of those tweaks, like expanded use of the Google Sans font, are now being tested on the desktop Search results page.

As the company’s flagship product, major changes to Google Search take some time to develop and are heavily tested. Google today announced a significant redesign of how Search looks on mobile that is focused on simplicity.

For the past year, the Australian government has been readying legislation that forces tech companies to pay local publishers for content that appears in Search and News. If the new law passes, Google today said it would have to pull Search from Australia.

Google’s various only platforms have been an important resource for many during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now the company is further improving those resources. Google Search can now show the COVID-19 “Health & Safety” requirements and options at local businesses.

A few months ago, we saw Google begin surfacing “Short Videos” in a Discover panel but it now looks as though this test has been expanded to Search.

The ability to see AR models of animals, scientific objects, and more in Google Search proved to be a viral trend and a useful tool amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the tech is about to get an upgrade. Now, you can see 3D models of new cars in Google Search using the same AR tech that brought you 3D animals, but with a bit of a twist.

Google frequently asks users for feedback to improve Search results, and the latest rating example is in the Search app on Android. There is a new “Rate your recent experience” notification that appears to be focused on improving location results.

The lack of in-store shopping means fewer opportunities to try things. Google Search wants to help virtually replicate that try-on experience for lipstick and other beauty products through AR and better previews.

Google Search is perhaps the most-used tool on the web today, and as such the company is always experimenting with new ways to improve it. This week, Google Search is testing a slight UI tweak that shows image previews when you hover over a link.

There are a handful of ways to check the weather with Google from Search on the web and Android to Assistant voice commands. As of this evening, Google Weather is partially down worldwide across multiple platforms.

One highlight of this year has been the immense popularity of AR creatures from Google that helps replicate the great outdoors inside. Google Search has now added 50 new 3D animals in the biggest drop yet.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage on, breaking new records with each passing day. On the bright side, though, the first COVID-19 vaccines are on their way to hopefully bring this all to an end. To help prevent the spread of misinformation and make research easier, Google has announced that it will bring COVID-19 vaccine details to the forefront in search results.

Following the debut of its annual Year in Search recap video earlier today, Google is furthering the celebration with some playlists on Chromecast with Google TV.

2020 is a year unlike we’ve ever experienced, and as it comes to an end, Google’s Year in Search video has debuted, giving us a look back at this uncertain, roller-coaster of a year.

Earlier this year, Google added a “COVID-19 alert” from the CDC to hospital and other healthcare provider listings. Google Health is now piloting a general tool to help plan your hospital visits.

Last month, Google announced a number of updates to improve the underlying technology powering Search. Language understanding capabilities introduced this year allow Google to factor your past queries to suggest additional searches.