According to a new 9To5Google report, Google is working on a way to combine a range of search technologies and possibly artificial intelligence into a new tool called “Search Companion”.
This method reportedly takes advantage of Lens, which allows users to search the web with image inputs rather than text, to pull more “context” from a web page.
It’s estimated that a new Search Companion window could be hosted in a sidebar in the company’s popular web browser, which accounts for two-thirds (66%) of all desktop browser sessions, as reported via Statcounter.
Looking at the code, it seems that Search Assistant can determine what you’re looking at by pinpointing certain types of data about a web page, such as title and other types of metadata. It also uses Lens to scan images on the page to make the information it collects more descriptive.
This assistant will likely help make web browsing and switching between pages more efficient by revealing relevant information that the user may want. For example, when a user is viewing a product, Chrome may suggest deals or spec sheets to facilitate your research work.
All of this comes at a time when Microsoft is importing AI like ChatGPT into its own browser Edge, and Google is trying to compete in the AI space. It is still unclear whether Search Assistant will use Google’s Bard, or even exist, as Google has yet to make an official statement about the upcoming project. However, it can be clearly seen that the company continues to work to improve and improve the search engine experience.