Search

Google has so many products that it's not really surprising to see it trying to connect the dots across its different properties, like Android, Search, and Chrome. What may sound natural, however, isn't always desirable or even legal in some cases, especially when businesses are involved. That is why the company has been embroiled in numerous monopoly and antitrust lawsuits, and its latest spate of new features exclusive to Chrome could eventually land it in hot water yet again.

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Earlier this year Google showed quite a few features that'd be coming to Google Lens in the future - now would appear to be the time these features will start to be available to the public. Google described their future in intelligent information parsing with their Multitask Unified Model, or MUM. The first pair of features for Google Lens are about to be available to the public using MUM to search for answers with Google in new ways.

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Once upon a time, there was a small movement among web browser extensions to introduce side panels for things like tab navigation and other useful pieces of UI. Browser makers themselves seem to have frowned on such an interface, but it seems that the tables have turned recently. Google is apparently starting to reclaim the sides of Chrome for additional information, like Reading lists and Google Lens searches. Now it is working on another panel that's designed to keep you living in Google land, even when you've turned away to another web page.

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Announced almost four years ago, Lens is one of Google's silent workers that power many of the features mobile users might be taking for granted these days. It powers both Google Photos' and Google Assistant's image recognition functionality, but Lens also has its own separate app on mobile. It doesn't have much of an existence outside smartphones, however, but that might soon change as Google works to integrate Lens functionality right inside Search results, at least in Chrome for the desktop.

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If you've used the Google Search bar in an Android device in the recent past, you probably weren't impressed. Depending on the device, you were more than likely simply sent to the Google App, and the search system - until now - was a bit of a mess. With the latest update to Android, with Android 12 and its 4th Beta release this week, we see the future of Search in Android.

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Google Search now allows users granular controls for deleting search history. Depending on the app or interface you use, you should be able to relatively easily drop in and delete all history from your searches in tiny increments. The latest simple update to the iOS Google app - the Google Search app, that is - allows a user to "Delete last 15 min" with 2 taps.

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Most people tend to use Google to search for anything they need information on, ranging from the mundane to the personal. Few people give a thought to how Google, by default, tracks those searches, one way or another, something that could induce fear and uncertainty in some users when they realize that fact. Fortunately, Google has become more responsible in handling that kind of data and giving users more control over their online lives. Now it is introducing new features in Google Search that will keep search histories safe from prying eyes, including Google's.

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Google has used its mass of data to look at terms used over past decades during heatwaves. The topic has arrived due to the massive heatwaves hitting parts of the US and Canada, including some regions like the Pacific Northwest where temperatures are typically mild and conditions are usually rainy. To no one's surprise, people really want air conditioners.

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Although they probably shouldn't, many people today regard Google as the repository of truth and fact. People simply search for news or use terms related to things and events and take the top results as the authoritative word on the matter (and sometimes misattribute it to Google rather than the source). Although it works great for the utilization of its services and, in the long run, ads, Google also knows too well that this presumption could also work against it. Now it is putting up a clear warning when it isn't so sure about the correctness of search results that it presents because there isn't much information about it on the Internet yet.

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Google might be the most popular search engine in the world but it is hardly the only one. There are several of those around, some trying to survive in their local markets against the might of Google's resources. In Europe, the tech giant was legally forced to present Android users with a Choice Screen, letting them select the browser and search app of their choice. That choice didn't come without cost for those search engines, however, but now Google is removing the hurdle that forced those search engines to pay to be even on that Choice Screen list.

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Today we're taking a peek at what Google revealed on day 1 of Google I/O 2021. This is generally the day when Google reveals the bulk of their public-facing news for devices and software, and this year was no different in that respect. Google reminded the world that their heart is in organizing the world's information and making said data valuable to all users, starting with a conversation with a paper airplane.

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Search, next to or in conjunction with ads, is the bread and butter of Google's business. The more people use it and stay within Search for any and all their needs, the better it is for Google. Of course, that implies that Google makes Search an indispensable tool for any and all Internet needs and that is exactly what it is saying in its I/O 2021 update, powered by AI and AR, of course.

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