You knew it was coming: Google begins testing AI-only search results
arstechnica.com
AI Mode could be the future of Google, but it’s currently just an experiment.

Google has become so integral to online navigation that its name became a verb, meaning “to find things on the Internet.” Soon, Google might just tell you what’s on the Internet instead of showing you. The company has announced an expansion of its AI search features, powered by Gemini 2.0. Everyone will soon see more AI Overviews at the top of the results page, but Google is also testing a more substantial change in the form of AI Mode. This version of Google won’t show you the 10 blue links at all—Gemini completely takes over the results in AI Mode.

This marks the debut of Gemini 2.0 in Google search. Google announced the first Gemini 2.0 models in December 2024, beginning with the streamlined Gemini 2.0 Flash. The heavier versions of Gemini 2.0 are still in testing, but Google says it has tuned AI Overviews with this model to offer help with harder questions in the areas of math, coding, and multimodal queries.

With this update, you will begin seeing AI Overviews on more results pages, and minors with Google accounts will see AI results for the first time. In fact, even logged out users will see AI Overviews soon. This is a big change, but it’s only the start of Google’s plans for AI search.

Gemini 2.0 also powers the new AI Mode for search. It’s launching as an opt-in feature via Google’s Search Labs, offering a totally new alternative to search as we know it. This custom version of the Gemini large language model (LLM) skips the standard web links that have been part of every Google search thus far.

  • oh_@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    AI is over hyped and doesn’t need to be shoved in our faces. Ugh.

    • kautau@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      2 months ago

      It’s another tech bubble like the dot com bubble. But at this point, the AI bubble, the crypto bubble, and the capitalism bubble will all crash at the same time as the world economy falls apart and we end up in another global war. I guess the accelerationists that survive will get their wish and see what remains and if it’s the neofuedalist white supremacy utopia they dream of

  • Pondis@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    2 months ago

    Which is EXACTLY why I just moved to using Vivaldi browser and StartPage as a search engine. Fuck these guys.

  • Delta_V@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    2 months ago

    this sounds like what Google wanted to be since its inception: ask a question, get an answer

    somewhere along the journey, the reality of needing to make money drove the enshitification of search results: ask a question, get offers to sell you an answer

    this seems like a step in a better direction

    • Baggins [he/him]@lemmy.caEnglish
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      2 months ago

      Right because when I search for factual information what I really want is an LLM to tell me “sorry Dave I can’t answer that question right now.” (See: any election related information. As in it doesn’t just kick you back to the web search results it just straight up refuses to give you the answer.)

      • Thistlewick@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
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        2 months ago

        It baffles me how wholly some people are just accepting the complete erosion of the internet. I have lecturers at university, so theoretically educated people, who tell us point blank to plug any questions we have about weekly topics into ChatGPT. The respect I have for these teachers and their content is less than zero at this point.

        • Chris@feddit.ukEnglish
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          2 months ago

          Then you have to check those answers, so you need to search for an authoritative source anyway… which means you need a regular search engine. At that point you may as well have used the search engine in the first place.

          If Google does this, you’ll need to find an alternative search engine to check Google against… so you may as well just switch to a different search engine in the first place.

          There are things that LLMs are good at, being a search engine isn’t one of them. Although I have asked searchy type questions and got some interesting links back which I probably wouldn’t have found on a normal web search with the terms I was using, so they can be useful as a supplementary search tool. I’d rather that than it just giving the answers, which then need to be fact checked elsewhere.

          • uranibaba@lemmy.worldEnglish
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            2 months ago

            At that point you may as well have used the search engine in the first place.

            I was going to respond to this but I think you did so yourself:

            I have asked searchy type questions and got some interesting links back which I probably wouldn’t have found on a normal web search with the terms I was using

            I think they work as supplements and not replacements. As any tool, they have their use and (for me) can enhance my searching. But I would not replace it with only LLM. (Altough I have never had any great luck with ChatGPT and links, they never work - as in ChatGPT give me an anchor element without any link. It’s better at providing me search terms and concepts to look up for what I need.)

  • SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.orgEnglish
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    2 months ago

    Been using Ecosia for months now. DuckDuckGo and Startpage before that. I’m pretty happy with Ecosia search results, can’t complain.

    • renlok@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      2 months ago

      I’ve tried so many different search engines over the last year to try getting rid of Google and ecosia seems pretty good, also I still use yandex pretty often

    • null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      I was with kagi for a year.

      It was fine.

      Their CEO is an asshole though. There was that thing where he went a bit nutty over some mild criticism. I don’t remember the details.

      Anyhoo. Searx is nice for the moment.

      • arcterus@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
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        2 months ago

        I feel like Kagi, after tuning, provides the best results at the moment (even including Google sometimes). You definitely need to tune it though since the default results are not that great. Agree about their CEO. TBH, at this point, I also wish they weren’t based in the US.

        It’s been a few years since I last tried Searx, but I remember the results being pretty bad. Has it gotten better?

    • mint_tamas@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      2 months ago

      The weirdest thing about switching to kagi was learning that the first few results have a good chance of being relevant. I got so used to scrolling down after a search. It was just weird to have the useful results on top. Similarly, learning that search syntax is actually meaningful and respected by the search engine (for the majority of cases).

      • andsens@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        I love that the search results end. Like, “nah bruv, that’s it, and I’m not going to make shit up to get you to click ads”

    • TheGoddessAnoia@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      I’m interested, but a bit reluctant. I find DuckDuckGo quite adequate for most things, except shopping online, something that I have to rely on for certain categories of items. How is Kagi on shopping?

      • null@slrpnk.netEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        I’ve been using Kagi for a bit. If I search for things one can buy, I get results similar to Google.

        What have you found lacking in DDG for online shopping?

      • arcterus@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        Shopping online locally or just finding certain items? It’s not great locally because it doesn’t seem to use your location for searches (which is good IMO), but it’s usually been fine for me if I’m just looking for something I want to buy. Note that you need to tune the results for them to be good (you can adjust site rankings for yourself).

    • Rooty@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      You Kagi shills never give up, do you? Also, information wants to be free, hack the planet yadda yadda.

  • hellerphant@lemmy.cafeEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    I’m so glad I switched to Kagi. The writing was on the wall once they started rolling out the AI suggestions wide.

  • Chris@feddit.ukEnglish
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    2 months ago

    Hmm, in theory I don’t have a problem with an AI telling me the answer to my question or whatever I’m searching for - but this isn’t a web search. If I’m actually searching for a particular page or context, then I want to be able to do that.

    These are two entirely different things, and if Google goes down this route they aren’t a search engine anymore - they are an LLM provider.

    • Voytrekk@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      Couldn’t agree more. I use both tools as they have their place, but when I want a search engine, I don’t want to get an AI answer for the result. Like if I’m searching for documentation on something, what benefit would the AI provide me over just giving the link?

    • AbsentBird@lemm.eeEnglish
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      2 months ago

      I don’t get what they gain out of this, doesn’t it remove the sponsored results? Or will people pay to nudge AI weights to recommend their products?

      • werefreeatlast@lemmy.worldBannedEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        Example:

        How do you make the best cookies diy?

        …the new Nabisco Cookies can be crushed to a fine powder mixed…

        What are other non-nabisco cookies I can cook?

        …Nestle chocolate chip cookies of course!

  • Sam_Bass@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    Number one reason to at least distance oneself from the big G. They shove unwanted shit down your throat despite the loud protesters

  • GaMEChld@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    2 months ago

    I mean their search results have gone to absolute shit anyway, the AI is probably better at this point.

    • Rooty@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      2 months ago

      My coworker who has an absolute hard-on for ChatGPT has tried several times in vain to get it to say the correct answer to a question I knew the answer to. LLMs are bullshit engines and toys for the malicious.

  • Xanza@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    I noticed today that UDM mode for Google is displaying sponsored results now, too…