Google Search Now Lets You Debate Results Like It’s A Forum, But There’s A Catch
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Summary
- Google Search is experimenting with a “Discussion” panel to display user opinions, first observed for sports matches.
- Users with Google accounts can post comments and view others’ thoughts, with full names revealed upon expanding the comment section.
- The beta version of this feature currently lacks a “@mention” capability, which restricts direct replies between users.
Google Search has changed a lot, especially since the advent of Generative AI. Google added the controversial generative AI feature, AI Overviews, and many users, including our own Phones Editor, Will Sattelberg, feel that it’s one of the reasons why Google Search has gotten worse.
One of the major problems with Generative AI features is bias. While Google might not get rid of AI-generated content on Google Search, at least not in the near future, the company is working on giving its Search Results a human touch to help users engage with more user-generated content on the search page. And the way the Mountain View tech giant is planning to implement it is pretty interesting.
Related
Google Search wants to show you what people think about a particular topic
As first spotted by @Callmenicholi on X, Google is now testing a new “Discussion” panel to show you what people think about a particular topic (via Android Authority). We tested the feature and found out that it’s currently limited to sports, with the discussion panel along with options like “Overview,” “Scorecard,” “Stats,” and more, appearing on match cards.
As you’d expect, the discussion panel allows anyone with a Google account to engage with others and share their opinions about that match. When you drop a comment, it shows your profile picture (or the first letter of your name in case your Google account doesn’t have a profile picture). Interestingly, the discussion panel shows your full name to other commentators only if they tap the “More comments” option at the bottom.
While it sounds as smooth as debating about something on forums like Reddit or even in our comment section, there is a major limitation to the discussion panel. While being able to post comments is cool, there is no way to ensure that the person you’re arguing against sees your counterpoint due to the lack of support for the @mention feature. The best way to get noticed is through real-time interaction, though even then, there is no guarantee, especially when lots of people are commenting on it.
However, all of that can change when this discussion panel comes out of the beta tag. The “Beta” label suggests that Google is currently testing the feature and might make more changes before making it generally available. Only time will tell how much it gets better from here. However, if you don’t like the direction Google Search is going, here are the alternatives worth trying.
