Google’s new AI-powered feature aims to help organize your search results.
Web Guide organizes links into helpful categories that break down a complex topic, the company said in a blog post, Thursday. It’s intended for both open-ended searches like “how to solo travel in Japan” or detailed queries in multiple sentences like, “My family is spread across multiple time zones. What are the best tools for staying connected and maintaining close relationships despite the distance?”
How Web Guide works
Here’s what’s different about Web Guide, versus regular Search. I Googled “Tips for getting started with photography” using the traditional method. The results showed standard links to Reddit and photography-related websites with tips for beginners. All of these links would probably be useful if I were looking for a guide to get started.
Also: Google’s AI Mode may be the upgrade Search desperately needs – how to try it for free
With Web Guide, the first two links were the same, but I had to click a more tab to see the rest. Under the first two links, further links were broken down and categorized. There was a “Comprehensive Beginner’s Guides” section that Google explained was about “Mastering basic camera settings, experimenting with composition, and understanding the exposure triangle are crucial first steps.” Links under that category were general, all-encompassing guides on how to start.
Below that was an “Understanding Camera Settings” category that contained links with information on mastering settings, a “Mastering exposure” category with links related to aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, and several more categories.
Links under the new Web Guide were significantly more organized and made it easier to focus on a specific part of my learning journey.
<!–>
Web Guide is Google’s latest attempt at injecting AI into Search. It added AI mode in May, a feature that provides longer natural queries and personalized answers, and announced several more AI innovations in Search a few weeks later. Just from my initial testing, I feel like Web Guide has the chance to have the biggest impact. While the other features focus on a specific part of Search, like AI Mode for shopping, or use AI Overviews that we still don’t fully trust, Web Guide makes significant improvements to core Search.
Google’s push into AI may be working, by the way, as a recent Wall Street Journal report showed how people are using Search more as they learn how helpful all the new integrations can be.
Also: 3 ways Google’s AI Mode will change how you shop online – if it works
Another intriguing aspect of Web Guide is that it can greatly lessen the presence of AI if you’d like. If you choose to keep tapping “more,” you’ll see link after link similar to a traditional Search view. You won’t see any AI until much further down the page.
How to sign up for Web Guide
For now, Web Guide is available to users who opt in. You can sign up to try it out on the Web Guide page in Labs. Just slide the “Try the new AI-organized web results” toggle on and click “Search on Web Guide.” You can switch back to the standard Web tab at any time.
Google says that over time, as part of this experiment, it’s also going to show AI-organized results in other parts of Search like the “All” tab.
Get the morning’s top stories in your inbox each day with our Tech Today newsletter.
–>
