Google’s adding some new, AI-powered elements to Search, tapping into its latest Gemini models to provide an enhanced Search experience.
Which will also, ideally, keep more people searching on Google, as opposed to shifting their discovery behaviors to, say, ChatGPT instead. The latest AI chatbots pose an existential risk to Google’s core business, because as more of them are activated, more discovery is happening in other places.
Which Google, of course, is keen to curb as much as it can.
First off, Google’s adding Google Lens search to its Chrome browser on the desktop, so you can conduct queries based on anything you see on your screen.
That could be a big help for people looking for specific items to buy, providing an easy way to conduct searches based on visual cues, and it could also help to establish new discovery habits, with the Lens button easily accessible at any time to Chrome users.
Google’s also adding new integrated product listings, powered by AI, to Google Shopping results.
These are smart additions, that utilize Google’s existing market advantages to boost its discovery tools.
Which is what Google really needs to do. It’s already where the majority of people go to search, and if it can continue to enhance its offerings with new AI-based functions, it’ll be able to remain the key destination, despite more competition for discovery.
From a marketing perspective, there’s probably not a lot to take from these updates, as they’re based on product info that likely already exists on your pages, but if you haven’t included all of your product details, and how they match up against competitors, that could be something to explore for the second element.
But again, they could keep Google front of mind for product search, which means you’ll be optimizing for Google listings for some time yet
