Credit: Google
Google does a lot of different things these days, but the company is still probably best known for search. As such, Google continues to improve its flagship product, adding new features to help users place more accurate searches.
Friday, the company updated Chrome on iOS, Android, and desktop with a handful of new features intended to improve search. The updates are pretty subtle, and you may or may not notice them on your own, but keep an eye out for these three changes:
Let other people inform your searches
Google wants to help you search for things before you even start typing. When you sign into Chrome and open up a new tab (desktop only), Google Search will present you with queries that other people are searching for, based on your past search history. Google says, for example, that if you once searched for “Japchae,” you’ll see suggestions for other Korean dishes.
I’m not sure how I feel about this one. Google has always suggested popular and potentially relevant searches as you type, but it’s a little weird to have the company guess what you want to search before you touch the keyboard. Sure, it’s based on your past searches, but I never open Google unsure of what I want to search for.
Credit: Google
Images in suggested searches is expanded
You might have noticed that when you start typing a search for something specific (like “Isanti dining table” in Google’s own example) you’ll see images appear next to the search results. However, for vaguer queries, Google previously wouldn’t populate images. The company has now expanded this feature to place images next to broader searches too. So if you’re searching for a table, but don’t have a particular style in mind, you’ll still see different options that may help inform your decision. This feature will appear in Chrome searches on iOS and Android, so if you benefit from visual searches, the option should give a small boost to your Google experience.
Credit: Google
Search suggestions will appear no matter the strength of your connection
Google is also expanding its on-device processing features to search suggestions. Going forward, if you’re in an area with poor service, Chrome will pull from your device’s resources to generate search suggestions. In addition, this functionality will help you receive more relevant search suggestions even when in incognito mode.