Google is launching a “Web” filter for its search engine, enabling users to specifically search for text-based links, similar to existing filters for images.
Google is adding a new approach to filtering for only text-based links as part of its overhaul for the AI era. The business is also providing AI overviews within its search results. Users will be able to filter for text links in the same manner that they can now filter for images, videos, news, or shopping, thanks to the new “Web” filter that shows up at the top of the results page.
A post on X revealed the news during Google I/O, the company’s developer conference, on Tuesday. Among other things, the announcement featured a significant overhaul of Google, including AI-organized search results and AI overviews in search.
Depending on your query, Google claims that the new “Web” filter will either show up at the top of the results page or as part of the “More” option.
With its debut, Google acknowledges that occasionally users may prefer to see text-based links to websites instead of the more traditional blue links, which are now frequently of secondary importance because Google either provides a solution to the query in its educational Knowledge Panels or, more recently, through AI trials.
Observing the Google SearchLiaison X profile, “We included this because some users have expressed that there are situations in which they would rather simply see web page links in their search results.
Examples of these scenarios include searching for longer-form text documents, using a device with less internet access, or simply preferring text-based results that are displayed apart from search features,” the post stated. “Enjoy yourself if you’re in that group!”
The tech giant further explained that users won’t need to access the “More” menu in order to view the new “Web” filter alongside the other filters on mobile devices. In the meantime, they will display the filters that appear to be most relevant to the desktop search results.
According to Google, the capability will start to roll out to users worldwide today.
There will probably be some discussion over the news of a “Web” filter, especially among SEO enthusiasts who have always strived to get their links to show up on the first page of Google Search results for a given topic.
However, it is also possible that this kind of SEO manipulation has made Google far less helpful than it was in the past, before search specialists were able to manipulate its PageRank algorithm.
The change is also a significant wager that search results pages won’t always display connections to websites in the future. Instead, other types of content or even AI answers that include citations for further learning may contain the information a user seeks. We await the manifestation of these developments in various industries that rely on clicks and visits.