Google to Make Search and Maps More ‘Immersive’ - The New York Times
From more photo-based results to neighborhood "vibe" checks, the company announced updates meant to keep two of its most popular products on trend. Google's search engine looks a little different these days. Results pages are now often filled with shopping items, maps, news articles, information bulletins and ads before people can scroll to lists of results — the blue links that became synonymous with the service. On Wednesday, at an event called Search On in San Jose, Calif., Google executives signaled that the search engine would keep up with Silicon Valley's latest trends, continuing the company's march away from text queries and results to become more focused on images and "immersive" material. When people look up vacation destinations, for example, they will see what Google calls "visual forward" search results — organized tiles of photographs presented much like Stories on Snapchat or Instagram, along with a map and images from travel sit...