Google is improving its search engine even further, adding continuous scrolling on results pages and keyword suggestions to refine queries. Enough to make the tool ever more effective!

Google is improving its search engine even further, adding continuous scrolling on results pages and keyword suggestions to refine queries. Enough to make the tool ever more effective!

For many years, Google has offered a wide selection of tools that have become essential in everyday life (Calendar, Maps, Chrome, Drive, Gmail, YouTube, etc.), to the point of being a key player in the Internet – and in digital commerce. in general. But what really made its power is its historical search function, an area in which the American giant largely dominates all its competitors such as Yahoo, Bing, Qwant or DuckDuckGo. A function that has changed the world, both for users looking for answers to their questions, and for site editors who are engaged in fierce competition to appear in the sacrosanct results page. And, to stay ahead, the web giant regularly updates its so secretive algorithms while discreetly adding new functions to its engine in order to adapt to the times and to the new forms of research that appear over time. . Earlier in the year, he already made sure to improve the search for precise expressions – the results pages will highlight the section of the sites containing the exact expressions and quotations -, to remove the traps-to- click and to favor original quality content in its results. It is now preparing to implement continuous scrolling, dubbed Continuous scroll, along with suggested keywords below the search bar.

Google Search: continuous scrolling for results

So far, Google search only offers about ten results per page before you have to click on the Next button, or select one of the results pages. To adapt to the evolution of research methods, in particular for Internet users who are more and more accustomed to scroll infinity – scrolling the content of a screen vertically using your mouse or finger – with TikTok and Instagram, the Mountain View company has announced on his blog the deployment of continuous scrolling for search results on computers – a function already adopted for the mobile version of its search engine. In total, the user will be able to scroll through the equivalent of six pages of results without the slightest effort. The change will simply be marked with a loading icon. A procedure that is much faster and more intuitive. At the end of the sixth “page”, simply click on the See more button.

This new function should have an impact on the SEO of the pages, given that the Internet user generally tends to stop at the proposals on page 1, or even, at most, on page 2 – useless to deny. It should therefore give better visibility by abolishing the user’s psychological barrier which prevents him from looking further. Moreover, Google explains that, since the function is used on mobile devices, “most people looking for additional information tend to scan up to four pages of search results”. The firm also plans to add more suggestions to mobile search boxes, as well as more information-rich displays for top results. It is also testing a new design for search filters. However, you have to be patient before you can enjoy continuous scrolling on a computer, because this new feature is currently being rolled out in the United States. There is no doubt that it will then be accessible to the rest of the world.

Google Search: suggested keywords to narrow down results

Another improvement that will arrive on the Google search engine: the addition of keyword suggestions. As advertised in a blog post, this function called Topics – either “subjects” or “themes” in French – will allow you to easily add and remove qualifiers to the request without having to carry out a new search. A way to help users who don’t know exactly what they are looking for or what is the most efficient way to find the answer to their question, while offering them to deepen and explore topics related to research. Thus, in the filters section, where the buttons are usually located to move to a search for images or purchases, the user will find new buttons that allow him to add modifications to his search. For example, for a search for dinner ideas, Google will suggest keywords such as “easy”, “healthy”, “vegetarian” or “rich in protein”. By pressing it, the user reduces his results by being more precise.

Google says it generates and organizes topics based on “what we know about how people search and analyze content on the web“. The firm indicates that, to remove the keywords, it is enough to “go back” but, according to the tests carried out by The Verge, the modification is not yet ready, and the simplest thing is to manually modify its search in the bar – which therefore cancels part of the interest of the function. This does not prevent that, to refine your search, it is always more practical than to manually browse the drop-down list of search suggestions. Google will begin rolling out this new feature in the Google app for iOS and Android, as well as on the mobile web in the coming days in the United States. As usual, the rest of the world should soon follow.

Google Chrome: improved search in the address bar

If Google has improved its online services, the Mountain View giant has not forgotten one of its most formidable tools: Chrome. The famous Web browser remains the most widely used computer in the world today – even if Microsoft’s Edge, which shares the same engine, is gaining in popularity. And to make it even more practical on Mac and PC, Google has just upgraded it by improving its search functions. From now on, it is thus possible to enter queries directly from the Omnibox – Chrome’s search and address bar – to search history, bookmarks and tabs. To do this, just type @history to search history, @tabs for tabs, and @favorites for favorites, followed by a space and the query – one or more keywords. Then, all you have to do is navigate through the results with the mouse or the arrow keys, and click or press the Enter key to be taken to the site or to the tab you are looking for. Announced a few weeks ago, this function is now available in Chrome, from version 108 released in early December 2022.

Google Lens: image search made easy

The continuous scroll is far from the only novelty deployed by Google this year to improve its search tool. Thus, if the Google home page has seen its design evolve over the years, it has always been composed of the same elements: a plain background with the Google logo in its center, a search bar and, just below, the two buttons Google Search and I’m lucky. But since the 1^er November 2022, a very practical little change – which can easily go unnoticed – appeared: the search bar has a small camera-shaped button on its right. It is neither more nor less than the Google Lens image recognition tool, which allows you to search for similar shots on the Internet.

As a reminder, Google Lens is a tool that was launched in 2017 and has gradually made its way to different interfaces. First integrated into Google Assistant and Google Photos on Pixel smartphones, it spread to Android and iOS, then to the Chrome browser, to finally land on all web browsers, including PC (see our practical sheet) . Google Lens allows you to search an image to find similar shots on the Internet. The tool goes much further, since Google’s algorithms analyze the content of the image and extract a lot of information from it. For example, for the photo of a dog, Google Lens will determine its breed. For a flower or a plant, it will indicate its species. It can even analyze the objects or clothing present in the snapshot and refer to online stores where it is possible to buy similar ones. Rather practical!

Google has continued to promote this function by integrating it into its homepage. Now, just click on the small camera, on the far right in the search bar, to open a panel. Just drag and drop an image, import one from its files or copy the link to make a request on it. Google then offers three results: a first with the visual correspondences, another extracts the text present above, and the third allows to offer a translation if it is written in a foreign language. But the Mountain View firm has also improved its Search in a more indirect way, through its other tools.

As the analysis precisely The Verge, the company has observed developments and trends in the Internet over the past few years. Conclusion: Users are looking for more natural and visual ways to formulate queries and get results. Google is used in a more indirect way than before, and many Internet users sometimes get lost in their quests. For example, they heard a term they didn’t know, or they told a friend about a place that sounds interesting. And then, one thing leads to another, they end up exploring other subjects – more or less related to each other. This totally changes the way of perceiving a search engine. Finally, it is no longer the idea that there is only one answer to the question we are asking, but several, within a system of exploration, of discovery. A way of seeing that changes both user expectations, but also what Google must give them – hence the deployment of new functions on Google Lens, Translate, Maps and Chrome carried out during the year 2022..

Google Multisearch: multi-criteria search

Launched at the beginning of May in the United States in beta version, the MultiSearch function – which itself uses Google Lens visual search – makes it possible to carry out searches from images and text, simultaneously. Example: A user searches the web for a dress similar to the one in a photo. Google Lens immediately offered her dresses similar or approaching this style. To see if the garment exists in other colors, just explain to Google that we are looking for it in green. And the engine immediately shows the results found online. The scope is of course much wider – to find chairs to match a table, for example.

But, this very practical function was, for the moment, only available in beta version in the United States. That’s why Google made some improvements and renamed it Multisearch near me – Multisearch near me, in French – before rolling it out to others – including France – with more than 70 new languages ​​supported. She can now, from the photo of an object, a plant or a dish, find it in a nearby place.