Voice Search on Chrome: The new feature in beta
Last month, the XDA Developers team reported a change to the Chromium source with the addition of a new feature described as follows: “enable display of the voice search button in the top toolbar”.
Chromium is a free browser created by Google, which derives much of the Google Chrome source code.
How will voice search work on Google Chrome?
Today, monitoring Google Chrome Beta (the version that has the features under development) I noticed the presence of the same feature.
The new voice options in Chrome Beta
In the image below, you can see the new options on Chrome Beta.
In particular, there are the options “Voice button in top toolbar” and “Include Page URL in Assistant intent” (the latter option was not present on Chromium, according to the images reported by XDA).
The microphone button and Google Assistant
By enabling the features we get the following result.
As you can see, the voice search button appears in the main toolbar. Touching the button opens Google Assistant and waits for the voice search.
The results appear in a SERP, ready for consultation.
Analyzing the actions done in the video, it is clear that this is a work in progress. For example, in fact, the assistant’s voice is interrupted by loading the results. However, it is a beta version .. we are at the beginning. If you try to use this feature, I invite you to send feedback to the developers.
Conclusions
The features that appear in the beta version, and especially in the experimental options (“flags” on Chrome, reachable through the URL “chrome://flags”) do not automatically switch to the production version, but this experimentation represents a very strong signal.
Google, in fact, is pushing in an important way towards the integration of voice search in its properties, but this feature on Chrome (not in the search bar of the Google web page, but directly in the browser!), and with the assistant it is a noteworthy evolution.
Google Assistant becomes more and more central in the actions of the Mountain View giant, and is a candidate to become a reference for all devices and interfaces ..
A single reference for Ambient Computing.
On the web, on social networks and in various communities, voice search is discussed. Changes like this, “shift” the reflections a lot, because if all users who use Chrome will be able to search through the voice at any time of navigation, and once they have experienced the advantages, especially in terms of speed, the Search habits could change significantly.
So, watch out for Voice Search Optimization!
The following video explains the most important aspects of Voice Search Optimization. The video is in Italian, but automatic subtitles can be used.
The podcast episode that follows, on the other hand, introduces voice search and explains how it works.
Good voice search :)
