We reached out to Google for comment and will update here if we learn more. It is unclear exactly what, if any, “recent activities” Google uses to generate these suggestions beyond search history. Similar features, such as “related searches” and the “people also ask” box have been around for some time, but the placement of these new search suggestions up top makes it more prominent and seems to signal that Google either considers it to be a better suggestion or is testing user engagement. Personalized search suggestions can help users find what they’re looking for, and in some cases, even influence behavior by exposing them to options that they might not have otherwise considered. Before searching for “post office,” I searched for “boston,” but instead of suggesting “post office boston” or something similar, Google suggested “post office restaurant” (there are a few dining establishments with “post office” in their names within driving distance of my location).
Some suggestions are more useful than others.
These search suggestions also appear to trigger outside of the e-commerce context. When I logged out of my Google account, browsing in incognito mode on Chrome, I saw no suggestions. I reproduced this series of searches (and several more discussed below) in a single session while logged in. It appears users must be logged into their Google accounts to receive these search suggestions. Query 1: “google home” > Query 2: “noise cancelling headphones” > Google’s suggested query: “noise cancelling headphones with google assistant”Ĭlicking on the suggestion takes the user to the search results for that query. Prior to searching for “noise cancelling headphones,” I conducted a search for “google home.” Based on that history, Google then suggested a query that essentially blends the two queries with a common thread of the Assistant. The personalized suggestions, first reported on by Android Police, can be quite nuanced. Google’s new search suggestion feature based on recent user activity.