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| (Image Source: Manila Standard/Google) |
On November 9, 2023, Google rolled out the Search Generative Experience (“SGE”) in the Philippines as an opt-in experiment in Search Labs. This AI-powered experience is available in English. With new breakthroughs in generative AI, Google is reimagining what a search engine can do and is bringing these powerful new capabilities to Search in a bold and responsible way. This powerful new technology can unlock entirely new types of questions that Search could not previously answer and transforms the way information is organized in Search to help people sort through and make sense of what’s out there.
Improving Search with generative AI
With SGE’s generative AI capabilities in Google Search, people will see an AI-powered overview of key information to consider, with links to dig deeper. For anyone who has ever been overwhelmed by the amount of information online, this will help find answers faster. For instance, with a question like “What are the most popular coffee beans in the world?” Normally, you might break this question down into smaller ones, sort through the vast amount of information available, and then start to piece things together yourself. With generative AI, Search can do some of that heavy lifting. SGE first delivers an overview, beneath this, users will see suggested next steps where they can simply tap a query like “Can you roast coffee beans at home?”, or type in a specific follow-up question. This conversational mode enables people to intuitively learn more about the topic they’re exploring. Context will be carried over from question to question to help people more naturally continue their exploration.
Featuring a wide range of voices and sources
Hearing insights from others is always useful when making decisions so Google has designed these new experiences to highlight and drive attention to content on the web. This makes it easy for people to dive deeper on the topic they’re learning about. As generative AI makes its way into Search, Google is committed to continue sending valuable traffic to sites across the web. Ads are a vital piece of how the web works, and help people find relevant products and services. In this new generative experience, Search ads will continue to appear in dedicated ad slots throughout the page. Google will continue to uphold its commitment to ads transparency and making sure ads are distinguishable from organic search results. When Search ads do appear, they will continue to feature their industry-leading clear and transparent ad labels with the “Sponsored” label in bold black text.
Taking a responsible approach
Google is taking a responsible and deliberate approach to bringing new generative AI capabilities to Search. The models used in SGE were trained to uphold Search’s high bar for quality, which will eventually continue to improve over time. These hallmark systems have been fine-tuned for decades, but will also have additional guardrails like limiting the types of queries where generative AI capabilities will appear.
Google Philippines and South Asia Frontier Markets Country Marketing Manager Gabby Roxas said, “With new generative AI capabilities in Search, we’re now taking more of the work out of searching. We’re imagining a supercharged Search that does the heavy lifting for you so you’ll be able to understand a topic faster, uncover new viewpoints and insights, and get things done more easily. The Search Generative Experience is the first step we’re taking in this journey, and part of our vision to make Search radically more helpful. We’re excited to bring this to India, and look forward to receiving feedback and iterating on the experience alongside our users over the next few months.” Google is bringing SGE as an experiment in Search Labs, available on Chrome desktop and the latest version of the Google App on Android and iOS. People can now opt in to try it out and share feedback directly with the teams working on it. Simply tap the Labs icon in the Google app or Chrome desktop and visit labs.google.com/search to learn more.
