What you need to know
- Google debuted "Search Profiles," which brings a touch of social media to the platform and the app's Discover feed.
- Content creators and publishers will feature a "Follow on Google" in their knowledge panel, giving users access to their content, including articles, social media posts, and videos.
- During I/O, Google revealed a massive new direction for its Search box, as AI completely takes over, moving us away from the keyword era.
Google Search is getting an upgrade for creators and publishers looking to expand their reach to new audiences.
What Google revealed today (June 4) is "Search Profiles," which has the Discover feed in its app in mind. In a blog post, the company states Search Profiles will give publishers a "central place to showcase their latest articles." However, content creators can similarly display their videos and social posts. Users can access these Search Profiles via the "knowledge panel."
This is available by tapping the publisher or creator's icon in the Google app. If you're using Google's search engine, hit "Show More" for a particular influencer/creator and scroll down to Search Profile.
From there, you'll find a convenient "Follow on Google" button. This panel will also display their official website and socials. Following on Google is the entire point of Google's new profiles, aside from helping creators/publishers reach new audiences. The post states that after following, users can find that account's content on their Discover feed in the Google app.
The Discover feed is the app's homescreen, meaning you won't have to go far to stay in the loop. Search Profiles are launching in the U.S. first; however, Google says it plans to extend this support to more users and creators globally.
Creators and publishers with "a sizeable following on at least one major social or video platform" can claim their profile and begin customizing it.
Search continues to change
Around I/O, Google had a lot to talk about when it came to AI, which is directly influencing changes in Search. What it revealed was the largest change to Search in over two decades. Moving forward, Gemini 3.5 Flash will fully power AI Mode and is said to bring "sustained frontier performance for coding and agents to users everywhere." This new AI Search box is reportedly more "conversational."
It will also expand as you're typing to give you the space you need to explain before hitting search. This new era of Search for Google moves us away from sticking to keywords. Now, users can talk (or type) as they would if they were speaking. What's more, this update to the Search box brings more for AI Overviews.
In an attempt to keep the conversation going, users can ask questions directly from an AI Overview.
Android Central's Take
Search Profiles from Google really just hits the social media nail on the head, doesn't it? This directly influences what you'll see in your Discover feed, which already tries to keep things close to what you like. If you're interested in tech or games, it'll surface articles or videos about those subjects. Now, it looks like Google is giving control to the user, and that's not a bad thing.
