The report highlights that at Google I/O this week, Google made that question even harder to answer, as Search absorbed more of Gemini’s AI capabilities and moved further beyond the familiar list of blue links. What is search, anyway?
Industry observers note that now “search” engines are acting more like butlers, anticipating what we want before we want it, based on what they know about us. For decades, we directed Google or Bing to fetch us a list of pages, in which we could find the answers we seek.
As part of the ongoing story, as unveiled at I/O, Google Search tool is soaking up even more of Google’s AI capabilities, with an expanded search box plus personal agents, while Gemini itself is taking on more of the tasks, such as delivering a daily brief, that I would normally associate with a personal aide or attaché. It’s not too much of a stretch to anticipate that “search” and “AI” are blurring, and probably will simply merge at some point.
According to the latest update, google wants you to ask them to keep their eyes open for, well, the sky’s the limit — low plane fares, news about Taylor Swift, updates from your apartment complex, and so on. And there are two key things Google is adding to its pantheon of products: search agents, and specifically a “personal” agent called Spark. Today, what we might have called “notifications” in past eras are now the domain of agents.
As part of the ongoing story, they’re just blending together. It’s hard to separate one from the other, just like it’s a challenge to distinguish Gemini within Google’s Workspace apps from the Gemini app itself.
As part of the ongoing story, right now, it’s apparently somewhat basic, where you can have it set recurring tasks or triggers, or teach it skills like checking your inbox for updates from the school your kids attend. Over time, however, Google has a roadmap of functions planned for Spark, just like any of its other properties. My colleague Ben Patterson will tell you more about the ins and outs of Spark, but this is the short version: it’s Google’s fresh “24/7, personal agent” that works on your behalf.
The report highlights that i can’t say which one would have come out on top, but I applaud the effort. Of more use, I think, is what Google calls a “daily brief.” If that sounds familiar, it might: Microsoft built in a daily summary of your upcoming events as part of Windows 10’s Cortana, and — once Cortana was headed for the graveyard — tried to move this capability into the mobile Outlook app.
As part of the ongoing story, “Daily Brief actively organizes and prioritizes based on your specific goals, even suggesting immediate next steps.”. “It goes far beyond a simple summary,” according to a blog post by Josh Woodward, the vice president of Google Labs and the Gemini app.
The report highlights that not surprisingly, it benefits from connections to Gmail, your calendar, and other connected Google apps. It also requires a subscription, though it’s available to the AI Plus tier as well as the more rarified Pro and Ultra subscription models. Of course, there’s no telling whether the daily brief will prove effective.
In a fresh development, like virtually everything else in Google’s ecosystem, Google Search includes “personal intelligence,” mining your life for additional context. Google now says that AI Mode, which grudgingly links back to the original source of its knowledge, has landed one billion users. As you might imagine, I’m less fond of AI Mode, Google’s controversial revamp of its search function.
Industry observers note that this will allow for longer, more involved queries where you can see the entirety of the prompt, add files, and so on. The upshot is that Google doesn’t want you to search for “best laptop;” it would rather you input something like “the best laptop like the one that my cousin Mike had last summer at the house in Maine, but under $1,500,” with everything from text, images, video, to even Chrome tabs as potential inputs. Google is expanding the search box, literally, at least on its mobile implementations.
According to the latest update, aI Mode, heavy on the “AI.” The fresh implementation is live, today, where AI Mode is already implemented. At this point, the line between a ‘search’ and a ‘prompt’ blurs even further, especially when Search and AI Mode allow follow-up conversations.
According to the latest update, but I can’t be as down on Google’s agentic search capabilities. I can see the impact of AI Mode on our business, and it isn’t good.
The report highlights that steam and Amazon offer you the choice to “wishlist” a particular item, tracking its pricing and notifying you when it’s on sale. So far, Microsoft still implements “Collections” of stored tabs, where you can research and store an ongoing project, like a summer vacation. (Like Google, Microsoft is pushing you to adopt Copilot to take over manual tab storage and replace it with an AI summary.). Generally speaking, the industry has come up with numerous ways to facilitate ongoing searches.
The report highlights that now Google Search is adding “search agents,” which will essentially monitor an existing question and provide answers. Agentic search used to be called “notifications,” where you could tell Google to monitor a topic and it would track it for you.
In a fresh development, “Your agent will intelligently look across everything on the web, including blogs, news sites, social posts, and the freshest data, such as real-time information on finance, shopping, and sports, to monitor for changes related to your specific question.”. “With information agents, you can stay revised on whatever matters most to you.,” according to a blog post by Liz Reid, the head of search for Google.
As part of the ongoing story, the latter has been a capability where AI has feared to tread, but Google is setting out to make it happen. Beginning this summer, you’ll also be able to allow Google to reserve restaurants and other venues — and even pay.
In a fresh development, google’s not really building an app that will allow you to do something. Instead, it’s using Antigravity to create small visual explanations of how a specific task could be completed or how a concept actually plays out in the real global stage, such as a black hole’s effect on time and space or how a Roman aqueduct may have been constructed. Google is also essentially using its own version of Claude Code, called Antigravity, to build small “apps” right within search itself.
As part of the ongoing story, i don’t have any vacations planned for the near future, but I could absolutely see agentic search being used to answer questions like “who is the current leader in the California governor’s race polling?” or ‘how much money has OpenAI raised in 2026?”.
As part of the ongoing story, anecdotally, Google still has 90 percent of the global stage’s search traffic, according to StatCounter. The issue, of course, is how the problem is defined — how many people are simply “searching” via ChatGPT or Claude? Ongoing agent-based searches and conversational followups will keep users within Google’s fold, where its management is desperate that they remain. Like it or not, Google is one of the architects of the modern search experience, and how we look for and acquire information.
The report highlights that he has authored over 3,500 articles for PCWorld alone, covering PC microprocessors, peripherals, and Microsoft Windows, among other topics. Mark has written for publications including PC Magazine, Byte, eWEEK, Highly adopted Science and Electronic Buyers' News, where he shared a Jesse H. Neal Award for breaking news. He recently handed over a collection of several dozen Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs because his office simply has no more room. Mark has written for PCWorld for the last decade, with 30 years of experience covering technology.