Google's new AI-powered feature aims to help organize your search results.
Web Guide organizes links into helpful categories that break down a complex topic, the company said in a blog post, Thursday. It's intended for both open-ended searches like "how to solo travel in Japan" or detailed queries in multiple sentences like, "My family is spread across multiple time zones. What are the best tools for staying connected and maintaining close relationships despite the distance?"
How Web Guide works
Here's what's different about Web Guide, versus regular Search. I Googled "Tips for getting started with photography" using the traditional method. The results showed standard links to Reddit and photography-related websites with tips for beginners. All of these links would probably be useful if I were looking for a guide to get started.
Also: Google's AI Mode may be the upgrade Search desperately needs - how to try it for free
With Web Guide, the first two links were the same, but I had to click a more tab to see the rest. Under the first two links, further links were broken down and categorized. There was a "Comprehensive Beginner's Guides" section that Google explained was about "Mastering basic camera settings, experimenting with composition, and understanding the exposure triangle are crucial first steps." Links under that category were general, all-encompassing guides on how to start.
Below that was an "Understanding Camera Settings" category that contained links with information on mastering settings, a "Mastering exposure" category with links related to aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, and several more categories.
Links under the new Web Guide were significantly more organized and made it easier to focus on a specific part of my learning journey.
Web Guide is Google's latest attempt at injecting AI into Search. It added AI mode in May, a feature that provides longer natural queries and personalized answers, and announced several more AI innovations in Search a few weeks later. Just from my initial testing, I feel like Web Guide has the chance to have the biggest impact. While the other features focus on a specific part of Search, like AI Mode for shopping, or use AI Overviews that we still don't fully trust, Web Guide makes significant improvements to core Search.
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