Settembre, 2021

Planting trees in cities helps provide shade, lower temperatures and contribute to cleaner air — all of which are huge benefits when it comes to adapting to the effects of climate change. That’s why we’re expanding our Environmental Insights Explorer Tree Canopy insights to more than 100 cities around the world next year, helping local governments fight climate change. We chatted with city officials in Los Angeles, Louisville, Chicago, Austin and Miami to learn more about how they plan to use Tree Canopy insights to build thriving, sustainable cities in 2021 and beyond.

Los Angeles

Today, there’s more information accessible at people’s fingertips than at any point in human history. And advances in artificial intelligence will radically transform the way we use that information, with the ability to uncover new insights that can help us both in our daily lives and in the ways we are able to tackle complex global challenges.

At our Search On livestream event today, we shared how we’re bringing the latest in AI to Google’s products, giving people new ways to search and explore information in more natural and intuitive ways.

Making multimodal search possible with MUM

Earlier this year at Google I/O, we announced we’ve reached a critical milestone for understanding information with Multitask Unified Model, or MUM for short.

We’ve been experimenting with using MUM’s capabilities to make our products more helpful and enable entirely new ways to search. Today, we’re sharing an early look at what will be possible with MUM. 

In the coming months, we’ll introduce a new way to search visually, with the ability to ask questions about what you see. Here are a couple of examples of what will be possible with MUM.

Whether you’re looking for facts about the COVID vaccine or information on how to apply for a loan, having access to relevant, credible information is crucial. People turn to Google for trustworthy, high quality results — especially when it matters most.  

That’s why we design our ranking systems to prioritize the most useful, highest quality content and provide direct access to reliable information for important topics. We’re also looking into new ways to give you more context about the information you find online, and introducing more information literacy features, based on research and best practices from experts. 

More insights from About This Result

Earlier this year, we launched the About This Result feature, which provides details about a website before you visit it, including its description, when it was first indexed and whether your connection to the site is secure. In the coming weeks, we’re expanding these panels to help you learn more about the sources and topics you find on Search. 

We’re bringing new and important insights to About This Result. When you tap the three dots on any search result, you’ll be able to learn more about the page. You can: 

• See more information about the source: In addition to seeing a source description from Wikipedia, you’ll also be able to read what a site says about itself in its own words, when that information is available.
• Find what others on the web have said about a site: Reading what others on the web have written about a site — news, reviews and other helpful background context — can help you better evaluate sources.
• Learn more about the topic: In the “About the topic” section, you can find information such as top news coverage or results about the same topic from other sources.

People don’t just come to Google looking for quick facts. They often really want to explore the information that’s out there, and learn about where it’s coming from — especially in situations where there’s a source they may not be familiar with. We want to make it easier to evaluate information with this update to About This Result, which will be rolling out in the coming weeks in English in the United States. And we’re working to bring About This Result to more countries around the world. 

Shopping online is as much about inspiration and discovery as it is about the final purchase. People are shopping across Google more than a billion times a day, and we have been working to make those experiences even more helpful by expanding your options. We’re here to help you find new ideas, discover unique products or get the best value from the widest possible range of merchants — from large retailers, marketplaces and well-known brands, to local stores and new direct-to-consumer companies. 

We’ve made a number of changes over the last couple of years to improve your shopping experience, including giving you more choice when you shop on Google. For example, we’ve made it free for merchants to list on Google and made it easy for sellers on Shopify and other digital platforms to  start selling on Google, so their products and inventory are discoverable for shoppers.

And today, we’re adding new tools to make it easier for shoppers to browse for inspiration, find new products and brands and ultimately find what they’re looking for in a more visual way. 

Shop in the moment with Google Lens 

We know that inspiration can strike at any time. Whether it’s an image that you see online, a photo you saved on your phone or something in the real world that catches your eye, Google Lens makes the products you see instantly shoppable. 

Starting soon, iOS users will see a new button in the Google app to make all the images on a page searchable through Google Lens. Now, finding this lamp or that shirt (and ones like it) is just a tap away.

We’re also bringing Lens to Chrome on your desktop. Soon, you will be able to select images, video and text content on a website with Lens to quickly see search results in the same tab — without leaving the page you’re on.

With Google’s AI technology and mapping information, people and organizations all over the world can access helpful, reliable information needed to make progress toward tackling global challenges like climate change. At Search On today, we’re sharing new mapping features that help keep communities safer, more sustainable, and discoverable — no matter where they are in the world. 

Introducing the wildfire layer on Google Maps

With climate change, wildfires are growing increasingly more common in many parts of the world. Last year, we launched a wildfire boundary map powered by satellite data to help people in the U.S. easily understand the approximate size and location of a fire — right from their device. 

Building on this, we’re now bringing all of Google’s wildfire information together and launching it globally with a new layer on Google Maps. With the wildfire layer, you can get up-to-date details about multiple fires at once, allowing you to make quick, informed decisions during times of emergency. Just tap on a fire to see available links to resources from local governments, such as emergency websites, phone numbers for help and information, and evacuation details. When available, you can also see important details about the fire, such as its containment, how many acres have burned, and when all this information was last reported. 

The wildfires layer will start to roll out globally this week on Android, with iOS and desktop coming in October, and will display most major fires that cause significant evacuations. In the U.S., the layer will expand to include more fires thanks to data from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). We plan to expand this level of detail to more countries, starting with Australia, in the coming months.