Google is reinventing itself for the AI era, introducing a new way to filter only text-based links as it provides an AI overview within search results. A new “Web” filter that appears at the top of the results page will allow users to filter text links in the same way they currently filter images, videos, news, and shopping.
The news was announced on Tuesday Via Post to X During Google I/O, the company's developer conference, the company unveiled news such as AI-curated search results and an overview of AI in search, which marked a major shift at Google.
We've released a new “Web” filter that only displays text-based links, as well as filters that display other types of results such as images and videos. This filter will appear at the top of the results page alongside other filters or as part of the 'More' option and will be rolled out from today… pic.twitter.com/tIUy9LNCy5
— Google Search Liaison (@searchliaison) May 14, 2024
According to Google, the new “Web” filter will appear at the top of the results page or as part of the “Advanced” option, depending on your query.
This announcement acknowledges that people may simply want to display text-based links to web pages. The classic blue links are often of secondary importance today as Google answers questions with its information knowledge panels and now through its AI experiments.
The Google SearchLiaison X account says: “We've heard from some people that sometimes they only want links to web pages in their search results, such as when they're looking for long text, so we added this.” Internet access “People who use restricted devices or who prefer text-based results displayed separately from the search functionality,” the post reads. “If you're in that group, have fun!”
Google also revealed that on mobile devices, the new “Web” filter will appear by default alongside other filters, without requiring users to go to the “More” menu. On desktop, on the other hand, Google will show you the filters it thinks are most relevant to your search results.
Google says the feature will be rolling out to users around the world today and tomorrow.
News of “web” filters can cause debate, especially among SEO people. SEO folks have historically worked on optimizing links to appear on the first page of her Google search results for a particular term. But there is no doubt that this kind of his SEO manipulation has made Google much less useful than it was in its early days, when his PageRank algorithm at Google was not utilized by search experts.
The move is also a big bet that the future of search won't necessarily be about showing links to websites. Rather, the answers the user is looking for may be other forms of content or his AI responses with cited sources for those who want to learn more. It remains to be seen how all these changes will affect the entire industry that relies on clicks and visitors.
Publish an AI newsletter. Sign up here to start receiving it in your inbox on June 5th.
