What new AI search features in Chrome mean for users
The features bring Google Lens to the desktop, and help users rediscover their search history and compare products on a single tab. They are useful for consumers and enterprises.
Google has introduced new AI features in Chrome, continuing the AI search war.
The cloud vendor rolled out three new features using the latest Gemini models in Chrome.
There is now a new way to search using Google Lens. The feature enables users to directly select, search and ask questions about anything they see on the web with the Google Lens reverse image search tool, without leaving the current tab.
The way to do this is to select the Google Lens icon in the address bar, then click and drag over what the user wants to search.
Meanwhile, Tab Compare is a new feature that presents an AI-generated overview of products across multiple tabs in one place for shoppers.
Also, a new rediscover history feature will let users search for previously visited sites in a more natural conversation way.
For example, users can access their history by typing: "What was that ice cream shop I looked at last week?"
Search war and enterprise angle
The update to Chrome, released on Aug. 1, arrived a week after OpenAI revealed that it's testing a prototype called SearchGPT to compete with Google's Search.
The current updates make it might seem like the tech giants are in a match-and-surpass race in which one does something and the other must respond. However, the market will eventually reach the point at which AI features in search tools like the new ones in Chrome will be expected, Futurum Group analyst Keith Kirkpatrick said.
Therefore, it will be expected to have AI tools with something like a Tab Compare or rediscover history feature.
"We're still in the early days where everyone is trying to compete on features. Over time, that's going to be less of a factor," Kirkpatrick said. The Chrome AI updates are mainly oriented toward consumers, but there is an enterprise angle, he added.
The ability to compare products on the same page is interesting for both consumer and B2B scenarios, he said. The feature could save a B2B vendor time as the company compares products for a business purpose.
Another interesting feature is the new Google Lens feature, said Constellation Research analyst Andy Thurai. The feature has been available on mobile phones for a while but not on desktops. It speaks to Google's move toward trying to dominate the image search market, Thurai said.
"Finding a product with an image, searching the internet, in the color or differentiation that you would prefer, and ordering it quickly is huge for the e-commerce market in this attention-deficit culture where digital fatigue is real," Thurai said.
He added that while other competitors are popping up in the image search market such as Bing visual search, Yahoo image search, TinEye and Pinterest, Google can easily dominate, given its current dominance in text-based search.
Moreover, while OpenAI's new searchGPT may be able to compete with Google in text search, it doesn't have plans for image search yet, Thurai added.
Regulatory challenges
You cannot escape the implications when it comes to data privacy and data usage, because it is something that is on the mind of both consumers and businesses.
Keith KirkpatrickAnalyst, Futurum Group
These new features come with regulatory challenges for Google, though, particularly regarding data.
"You cannot escape the implications when it comes to data privacy and data usage, because it is something that is on the mind of both consumers and businesses," Kirkpatrick said.
As for recalling browser history, the privacy concerns with that feature may make it unacceptable in areas like the countries of the European Union, where the AI Act just went into effect Aug. 1.
Google said its rediscovering history feature will be generally available in the U.S. in a few weeks.
Esther Ajao is a TechTarget Editorial news writer and podcast host covering artificial intelligence software and systems.
