Generative Search Experiences (SGE): Innovation at the Intersection of Factuality vs Fluidity
Google's approach to AI-generated search experiences (SGEs) is interesting on a number of levels, starting with the topic of "Factuality vs Fluidity" While people show more trust in fluid answers, Google is aware of this and prefers to provide factual and fact-based answers. This is especially important for preventing inaccurate information on Your Money Your Life (YMYL) topics like health and finance.
In this context, fluid answers are those generated through relatively free and creative information.
To address these challenges, we are taking five key approaches to AI-generated forms in search.
First, how do we reduce information demands and provide a more fluid and familiar experience?
Second, how do we ensure the quality of the information, and should we provide answers on sensitive topics like health and finance?
Third, how securely can Google provide answers?
Fourth, how do we give credit and traffic to sources, and how do we design experiences that encourage Google users and searchers to dig deeper into those sources?
Finally, how will we better display ads and provide additional information to users?
It's interesting to see the credibility of Google's efforts to overcome the lack of source citations and links when the generative search experience rolls out. SGE aims to drive traffic to websites through connections with publishers. The explicit answers generated in this environment are not only characterized by specific websites, but also by the websites that comprise them.
Google's AI models also synthesize information from multiple sources. In fact, Google looks for factual information from multiple sources to formulate an answer and then displays a citation. These sources are typically taken from high-quality online sources. In this way, Google utilizes a variety of signals to verify the quality of the information, and users can go directly to the website where the answer originated.
But what makes all of this possible is Google's strong commitment to its AI principles. We're taking a "thoughtful and responsible approach" to introducing new generative AI capabilities to search, and we're doing so by listening to user feedback and tweaking those capabilities.
In fact, this new search experience tells us that Google will be deploying search quality reviewers, doing initial testing over the next few weeks, and then rolling it out to the first group of public users. The search quality reviewers will help improve the overall results and experience of this new search approach by providing pre-launch and ongoing feedback.
So at the end of the day, this new search experience is not meant to be a complete replacement for Google Search, but rather an extension and complement to it. It aims to provide users with a better, richer, more fluid and at the same time more reliable search experience. We should therefore look forward to seeing how this innovative development will evolve Google Search and what new opportunities it will open up for users and publishers.
By Yoon Kim, Growth Marketer, FUNCTION12