From text search, to image search, to voice search, Google never veered from its mission: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Today, it is still carrying on with this mission and is working on making the search experience more natural and intuitive. 

During this year’s Search On event, Google announced its new search features and tools that combine images, sounds, text, and speech to make the search experience more immersive. 

Ready to explore these features? Let’s go!

1- Multisearch

With multisearch, you are not limited to the search text box anymore. This feature allows users to search for things by combining both images and text. Multisearch can be used along with Google Lens as well.

With Lens, you can search the world around you with your camera or an image, and now with multisearch, you can ask a question about the image that you’re seeing. 

For example, if you happen to find a green bag that you like, but want to get it the color red, you can now take a picture of this bag with Lens and write the query “red” to find it in this color. 

2- Keyword or Topic Options

When typing your search query in the search box, keyword and topic options will appear under the box to help you naturally explore more topics that might interest you and that you haven’t thought about.

Users have the option to add or remove topics and keywords whenever they want.

3-Immersive View

It is the evolution of 2D maps into a multidimensional view of the real world. 

Immersive View lets users experience places as if they were there. It provides critical information such as the business hours of a  restaurant, the current weather of a place, whether it has a view, and if there’s traffic.

Immersive View is launching globally in the upcoming months. 

4-Search with Live View

Searching for a place takes time. For example, if you’re checking for grocery stores near you, first you have to add your location, then narrow down the list to the most accessible stores, then get more information about the stores to see if what you’re looking to buy is available… 

With the search with Live View feature, you can now find a grocery store more naturally and easily.

You simply have to lift your phone and search for what you are looking for with your camera. Live view will point to the place that fits your query. Not only that, it will easily provide you with information on how busy the place is and what are its business hours,  and when you tap on the location, you can view more details.

5-Sustainable Features

Google recently launched the eco-friendly routing feature in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. This feature uses a new routing model to let drivers see and choose the most fuel-efficient route to their destination.

This technology was a success and helped remove an estimated half a million metric tons of carbon emissions according to Google. It will soon be available to third-party developers, such as delivery apps, through Google Maps Platform. 

Google will also start showing the annual fuel cost for cars as well as emissions estimates in search results to help buyers choose a more eco-friendly car.  

And with the rise of electric cars, it will feature new information useful for the owners of these vehicles such as estimated costs, range, and charging speeds, along with close public charging stations.

In addition, later this year, Google will shed more light on pre-owned items, making it easier for users to make sustainable choices.

As for food, when searching for a food recipe, a new feature will show ingredient-level emissions information from the United Nations for every ingredient in the recipe. This will help users identify what food ingredients are more sustainable than others.

It will soon be available worldwide to English language users.

5-Search with the Word “Shop”

Soon, when we search the word “shop” followed by whatever item we are looking for, we’ll have access to a visual feed of products, research tools, and nearby inventory related to that product. 

6-Shop the Look

Now we can shop a complete look instead of one fashion item. When you search for a clothing article, the Shop the Look tool will show you its image with complementary pieces, plus options for where to buy them.

 7-Shop in 3D

Now we can start browsing in 3D while shopping online. Google already launched 3D visuals of home goods earlier this year, and soon we’ll be able to see 3D visuals of shoes, starting with sneakers.

To make it easier for merchants and advertisers to create 3D visuals, Google launched a new automated 360-degree spin feature that can be accessed by using a handful of still photos. 

This new technology will become available in the coming months.

8-Buying Guide 

It’s a new feature that collects information about a product from different trusted sources and puts them in one place. This feature will help users research faster and make quicker purchasing decisions with confidence. 

The buying guide was recently launched in the U.S., and new insight categories are coming soon.

9-Digital Menus

Google is expanding its coverage of digital restaurant menus. With the MUM algorithm, Google is using image and language understanding technologies to combine menu information provided by people and restaurant websites that use open standards for data sharing. 

10- Translated News Coverage

Google also announced that in 2023, it will start translating news coverage directly from Search. 

Users will be able to access more complete on-the-ground coverage of local reporting from other countries in their preferred language. French news written in French for example will be automatically available in English for a user whose preferred language is English. 

This feature will be launched to translate news results in French, German, and Spanish into English on mobile and desktop.

11-Discussions and Forums

Google found that people consider forums a useful place to find first-hand advice and to learn from other people who already experienced something they’re interested in. 

They added a new Discussions and Forums feature that will include helpful content from a variety of popular forums and online discussions from across the web. 

Google understood that the way people seek information isn’t only confined to a text box, so they updated their search tools to help us better find what we’re looking for. 

With the launch of all these new features and updates, advertisers, SEO specialists, and marketers should start optimizing their user experience and how they’re representing their products online.  

At Maze Solutions, we’re always on the lookout for helpful updates in the online digital world to help our clients reach their highest ROI. Request a meeting with us and meet our team to learn how our services can help your online business.

*To learn more about these new search features and tools, watch the full event here.