Google Introduces Video-Based Search Feature

Google has unveiled a new feature allowing users to search the internet by capturing a video. With this video search feature, users can point their camera at an object, ask a question, and receive search results, as reported by the BBC.

Android and iPhone users worldwide will be able to access this feature by enabling AI Overviews in their Google app, though it currently supports only English.

This latest move by Google aims to reshape how users search online using artificial intelligence. It follows three months after OpenAI, the developer behind ChatGPT, announced testing a similar feature that allows users to ask questions to its chatbot for internet searches.

Liz Reid, Google’s VP of Search, said the new capability would make it easier for users to ask questions about their surroundings. For instance, someone at an aquarium may want to know why a school of fish is swimming together harmoniously.

Instead of searching online for information about the fish and typing a query, the new feature allows users to direct their camera, record a short video, and ask their question aloud. Google’s AI will analyze the video, identify the fish, combine it with the question, and display search results.

Industry analyst Paolo Pescatore commented that this is a major development for Google, noting, "AI is now everywhere, and people connect more effectively with visuals," according to CNBC.

This recent advancement showcases new ways of making content more dynamic, especially in search, one of the internet's most popular functions.

Google’s new feature arrives amid increased competition in search, where it holds an estimated 90% of the global market. One key competitor, OpenAI, revealed in July that it is testing "SearchGPT," which allows users to search the internet by asking questions to a chatbot, currently available to a limited group of users in the U.S.

According to CNBC, Google’s latest announcements may be aimed at countering the growth of competing companies, though none have yet posed a serious threat to its dominance.