Google will start organizing some search results using artificial intelligence, introducing advertising to artificial intelligence

Google (GOOG, GOOGL) is rolling out some major artificial intelligence updates to its main search platform and Google Lens visual search software. On Thursday, the company announced it would begin making its AI-organized search results pages available to users in the US. The tech giant also says it will allow people to search for information about videos recorded live in the Lens app. Google says Lens is one of the fastest-growing types of search and is especially popular among users aged 18 to 24.

Importantly for both investors and advertisers, Google also announced that it is adding ads to its AI-powered AI Reviews on the search engine, as well as an updated look for AI Reviews that the company says will improve traffic to related sites.

The updates are part of a broader effort by Google to further monetize its massive investment in generative AI technologies. Immediately after the announcements, Google shares fell largely unchanged.

Google says AI-organized search results will be available to users looking for open-ended answers or queries that don’t have one true correct answer. First, we’ll start with recipes and culinary inspirations in the mobile search engine.

Google says the feature provides more “content and perspectives from across the web,” and in testing, users found AI-generated search results more useful overall.

The company says that with the Google Lens update, you’ll be able to open the app, hold the shutter button, and use your voice to ask questions about moving objects you see in front of you. In one example, Google said you can point your phone’s camera at a school of fish and ask why they’re all swimming in a circle.

The company demonstrated the technology at its I/O developer conference in May, showing how you can point your phone’s camera at a turntable and ask it why its tonearm keeps moving away from the record. In a pre-recorded demo, Lens displayed an AI review response explaining what might be wrong with the player and standard search results identifying its model number.

This feature is only available to Search Lab users via the Google app and only supports questions in English for now. However, if it proves to be reliable when rolled out to a wider group of users, it’s easy to see how the Lens with Video feature could be useful for users who want to ask simple questions about home repairs and more.

Lens is also getting updates to its shopping feature, including access to the Google Shopping Graph, which the company says will provide users with prices based on product images, reviews of those products and where they can buy them.

Visual search is one of the next major AI battlegrounds for tech companies. The Google Lens app has been around for years. Earlier this year, the company debuted its Circle to Search feature, which allows you to take a photo and circle the item or object you want to learn more about.

Apple ( AAPL ) also plans to get into the visual search game later this year with a visual intelligence feature for iPhones with a new Camera Control button. Like Google Lens and Circle to Search, the visual intelligence will identify objects and places using the phone’s camera, though Apple doesn’t mention whether it will work with video.

In addition to the Search and Lens updates, Google is officially rolling out ads to AI browser users in the US. The company says it has received positive feedback after testing ads on AI reviews and that it has helped users quickly connect with companies related to their search terms.

This will certainly make investors and advertisers happy, as both groups were initially hesitant about how the AI ​​overhauls might affect the way Google displays ads in search results. Advertising is still Google’s largest business, despite gains in its cloud computing segment, and will likely continue to dominate as Google’s largest source of revenue for the foreseeable future.

Appropriate display of ads in AI reviews is of great importance to Google as it continues to develop generative artificial intelligence technologies across platforms. Search is still Google’s most popular activity, but adding generative AI to apps like YouTube will also require careful consideration to avoid irritating users and advertisers.

Email Daniel Howley at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.

For the latest earnings reports and analysis, earnings forecasts and expectations, and company earnings news, click here

Read the latest financial and business news with Yahoo Finance.