Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Google has used its wildly popular online tools such as Maps and Search to help curb the spread of misinformation and give people the resources they need to stay safe. Now, Google has posted a new video that reminds users they can use Search to find a nearby COVID vaccine.
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Google has increasingly made Search a resource for students and others wanting to learn about various topics. The latest additions see Google Search surface practice problems, while expanding other capabilities.
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Google’s ever-present Discover feed is testing a minor design tweak that moves the weather from a wide strip down to a chip in the corner.
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Pi Day — March 14 — in 2021 is this Sunday, and Google is celebrating with an easter egg when you open Search’s built-in calculator. It tests how well you know the mathematical constant.
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Google offers a dedicated Finance portal that shows you news in addition to charts and other trend data. That said, most users make do with entering ticker symbols in Search to find the price of stocks, with Google recently revamping the desktop experience.
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The big revamp of Google News in 2018 introduced a “Full Coverage” feature that brings together context and other perspectives for major stories in one feed, and it’s now coming to Search.
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Google Weather in Search for Android was last redesigned in 2019, and the desktop experience is now seeing a handful of tweaks that help modernize the old UI.
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For the past two years, it seemed that Google was on track to replace “Voice Search” on Android with Assistant. That might not be the case anymore as a more modern UI for Google Voice Search is now being tested.
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Google is celebrating the successful landing of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars with a virtual fireworks show, an augmented reality 3D model, and more.
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Google Search has historically evaluated “all content on a web page to determine if it is relevant to a query.” Back in October, alongside the launch of Hum to Search, Google announced passage ranking, and it’s now starting to roll out.
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While it still hasn’t rolled out widely, Google is actively working on bringing a full dark mode to Google Search on desktop. Thanks to another A/B test, we’ve discovered that Google Search dark mode will also be able to follow the system theme on your desktop.
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Last month, Google revamped Search on Android, iOS, and mobile with a focus on making results easier to read. A similar look has long been in development for the desktop web, with users able to preview it on COVID-19 queries. Google’s desktop redesign is now also available for music-related searches.
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Over the past few years, Google has been working to reduce the need for users to perform follow up queries. Google Search is now streamlining that further with an “About this result” panel that provides direct information about websites before clicking.
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While night modes are pervasive on Android and iOS, they are less common on large screen form factors. Google is now A/B testing a dark mode for Search on desktop web.
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Google today announced several efforts to aid COVID-19 vaccine distribution in the US. CEO Sundar Pichai announced $150 million in ad grants, while various Google products will soon display local information.
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On Friday, Google announced a big redesign of the mobile Search experience. Some of those tweaks, like expanded use of the Google Sans font, are now being tested on the desktop Search results page.
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As the company’s flagship product, major changes to Google Search take some time to develop and are heavily tested. Google today announced a significant redesign of how Search looks on mobile that is focused on simplicity.
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For the past year, the Australian government has been readying legislation that forces tech companies to pay local publishers for content that appears in Search and News. If the new law passes, Google today said it would have to pull Search from Australia.
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When searching, Google lets you categorize web results by Images, News, Shopping, etc. and offers two “Tools.” Google Search’s ability to filter by precise time, specifically setting your own “Custom range,” is currently broken in a rare bug.
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Google’s various only platforms have been an important resource for many during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now the company is further improving those resources. Google Search can now show the COVID-19 “Health & Safety” requirements and options at local businesses.
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A few months ago, we saw Google begin surfacing “Short Videos” in a Discover panel but it now looks as though this test has been expanded to Search.
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The ability to see AR models of animals, scientific objects, and more in Google Search proved to be a viral trend and a useful tool amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the tech is about to get an upgrade. Now, you can see 3D models of new cars in Google Search using the same AR tech that brought you 3D animals, but with a bit of a twist.
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Google frequently asks users for feedback to improve Search results, and the latest rating example is in the Search app on Android. There is a new “Rate your recent experience” notification that appears to be focused on improving location results.
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Today, a second group of states filed a lawsuit that alleged Google Search “hinders” access to “specialized vertical providers” that provide travel and entertainment information. Google’s response to that antitrust claim is focused on how Search today is intended to benefit users.
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