If you’ve been around the internet long enough, surely you’ve seen someone ask a question online that can easily be answered with a Google search. The latest Google app beta for Android now offers a convenient way for you to share your current Google Search with others.
There’s plenty of ways to share a particular Google Search query, such as copying the (usually quite long) URL or using LMGTFY, which offers a bit more sass. Google itself hasn’t exactly made this kind of sharing an easy or official thing to do, until now.
As of this evening, Android owners who have opted into the beta version of the Google app are beginning to see a convenient Share button on their search results page, just to the right of the voice search button. Clicking this new button brings up the Android share menu, letting you share a “search.app.goo.gl” link. Here’s an example share link that should bring you to a Google Search for “pizza near me.”
What happens when the recipient clicks the link seems to change based on their device. Androids are brought directly into the Google app (via Google Play Services), PCs are sent to the traditional Google Search results page, and Chromebooks seem to pass the link to Google Play Services then back to the browser to the Google Search results.
The link only appears to share the text of your search terms, not the results that Google shows you when you searched. As Google personalizes search results based on what it knows about you, this means others may not see the exact same results.
9to5Google’s Take
It would be interesting if sharing your Google Search results like this could somehow share the exact results that you’re seeing on your device, making for reproducible results. Such a system would likely be abused somehow though.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments