Google unveiled the biggest change to its search box in 25 years. It is calling the new search box the “Intelligent Search box.” The new search box aims to bring easier access to the AI search features in Google Search to Google’s users.

And yes, this is all powered by the latest Gemini release, Gemini 3.5 Flash.

What it looks like. Google redesigned this search box to give searchers more space to ask longer, deeper queries. The search box will continue to expand as the user enters the query or prompt. There is an AI-powered suggestion that Google’s Head of Search, Liz Reid, said “goes beyond autocomplete.”

Plus, you can search with text, images, files, videos or your Chrome tabs.

Here is what the new intelligent search box looks like:

This puts Google’s “most powerful AI tools right at your fingertips, making it easier to ask your questions,” Liz Reid of Google said.

Seamless Google Search to AI Mode. Google also said it made the AI Overviews seamless link approach to AI Mode live today globally both on desktop and mobile. This is something that launched to many back in January but is now fully live.

Here is how this works:

Why we care. The Google Search box looks and feels different and that might be a big deal to how it leads to how users search on Google. It might impact the type of search traffic Google has been sending you and will send you in the future. It might lead to more people jumping to AI Mode sooner from Google Search and it might lead to more AI Overviews with deeper answers. It might lead to fewer clicks to your web site than before.

Change is not always easy, but it is inevitable, especially when it comes to Google Search.

Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO told us that the extraordinary thing about Search is how people search and expect more from Google Search.  Search is evolving, from individual queries to ongoing conversations and now to agentic workflows.  Search is the most used product in the world, Sundar said and Google will evolve super hard to stay a step ahead of where our users want to be.

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Google announced its latest and greatest AI model, Gemini 3.5 Flash today at Google I/O. Google’s head of Search, Liz Reid, said Gemini 3.5 Flash is Google’s “newest Flash model delivering sustained frontier performance for agents and coding.” She added that is now being used to power AI Mode globally.

Gemini 3.5 Flash. Not only is Gemini 3.5 Flash powering AI Mode in Google Search, but it is also powering the Gemini app, for all users, not just paid users.

For developers, 3.5 Flash is now live in Google Antigravity, Gemini API for Google AI Studio and Android Studio and for enterprise users for Enterprise Agent Platform and Gemini Enterprise.

Koray Kavukcuoglu, CTO of Google DeepMind and Chief AI Architect, said:

• “Gemini 3.5 Flash delivers intelligence that rivals large flagship models on multiple dimensions, at the speeds you have come to expect from the Flash series.”
• “It’s our strongest agentic and coding model yet, outperforming Gemini 3.1 Pro on challenging coding and agentic benchmarks like Terminal-Bench 2.1 (76.2%), GDPval-AA (1656 Elo) and MCP Atlas (83.6%), and leading in multimodal understanding (84.2% on CharXiv Reasoning).”
• “When looking at output tokens per second, it is 4 times faster than other frontier models. Landing in the top-right quadrant of the Artificial Analysis index, 3.5 Flash delivers frontier-level intelligence at exceptional speed — proving you no longer have to trade quality for latency.”

Why we care. Gemini 3.5 is already powering Google Search’s AI Mode and is likely soon to power AI Overviews. It is a step up from the previous AI model and will continue to get smarter and more useful.

It is important for you to see how the AI Mode responses differ from the previous model for the queries and prompts that matter to your site.

Search is changing rapidly and you need to stay on top of these changes.

Google also announced new search agents, including information agents and new agentic capabilities within Google Search. The information agent will continue to scan the web to find and monitor changes to your tasks and help you along your tasks journey.

“We’re entering the era of Search agents, where you can easily create, customize and manage multiple Al agents for your many tasks, right in Search,” Liz Reid, the head of Google Search said.

Information agents. The information agents will help you stay on top of your questions and tasks. Google said the agent will “intelligently look across everything on the web, like blogs, news sites and social posts, plus our freshest data, such as real-time info on finance, shopping and sports, to monitor for changes related to your specific question.”

The information agent will then send you “an intelligent, synthesized update, with the ability to take action.”

The example. Here is the example Google provided:

“So if you’re apartment hunting, you can brain dump all of the exact requirements you’re looking for, and your agent will continuously scan for you, notifying you when listings meet your needs. Or if you want to know the instant any of your favorite pro athletes announce a sneaker collab, your agent will let you know when a new drop lands so you don’t miss out.”

Availability. This will first roll out in the summer to Google Al Pro & Ultra subscribers.

Agentic experiences. Google is also expanding its agentic booking capabilities in Google Search to handle new tasks including things like local experiences and services. So if you want to find a place that has a private karaoke room for a specific time and night, that also serves specific food, you can use Google Search to book that place for you.

Google will pull together the latest pricing and availability with direct links for your to purchase it.

This works across home, repair, beauty or pet care and will roll out this summer in the U.S.

Personal intelligence expanding. Google also announced it is expanding Personal Intelligence in AI Mode to about 200 countries and territories and 98 languages.

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Google is now letting searchers build their own apps directly into Google Search. This enables searchers to set up a search feature that delivers the information they need, in the format they want, from the sources they want.

Liz Reid, the head of Google Search, announced at Google I/O, “Search can build the ideal response, in the right format for your question – completely on the fly. So you can get custom generative Ul, including visual tools and simulations, tailored precisely to your needs.”

Examples. Here are a few examples of what you can code yourself into Google Search:

(1) Whether you want to wrap your mind around astrophysics or visualize how your watch works, Search can design custom layouts, assembling components (like interactive visuals, tables, graphs or simulations) in real-time, Google wrote.

(2) Ongoing tasks widgets, like planning a wedding or managing a home move. Search can go a step further, building you custom dashboards or trackers that you can continue to come back to and make progress on. You can think of these like mini apps for your own specific tasks, Liz Reid explained.

(3) Fitness tracker in Search, where you can ask Google Search to build you a custom fitness tracker. Search will code it for you, tapping into fresh, real-time sources including reviews, live maps and local data like the weather, so you get a tracker that works for you, helping you stay on track week after week.

What it looks like. Here are some examples of what this looks like in Google Seaerch.

Generative UI example:

Custom tracker example:

Availability. The generative Ul capabilities will be available for everyone in Search this summer, free of charge.

The custom experiences with Antigravity, like mini apps, right in Search in the coming months, starting first for Google Al Pro and Ultra subscribers in the U.S.

Why we care. Google Search will not just answer your questions but you can code your own mini apps within Google Search to give you the answers you want, in the format and style you want.

This is really a unique way for search and likely can only be done with generative-AI features and tooling.

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Google also announced some new agentic commerce features today in Google Search including Universal Cart, expanding Universal Commerce Protocol and Agent Payments Protocol (AP2).

Plus, Google’s Shopping Graph now contains 60 billion product listings, which is up from 50 billion from earlier this year, announced Vidhya Srinivasan, VP/GM Ads & Commerce.

Universal Cart. Google announced what it is calling the Universal Cart, where you can put products and items from multiple retailers into one single Google Universal Cart and check out on all those items with your Google Wallet with the click of a button.

As you are on Google Search, you can add items directly to your Google Universal Cart without having to go to a specific retailer’s website. This will work across Google Search, Gemini, YouTube and Gmail, so just keep throwing items in your cart – across Google interface and retailer and the cart will maintain your list.

Here is a screenshot of Universal Cart showing multiple retailers:

Google will find the best prices and deals, including which retailer has it in stock and let you check out with your preferred retailer.

Plus, Google said Universal Cart will “anticipate your needs and help solve problems before they.” Google’s example:

“Say you’re building your first custom PC and add a few parts from several retailers to your cart. Your cart will proactively flag any product incompatibilities and suggest alternatives. Since the cart was built on Google Wallet, it understands your payment method perks, loyalty information and merchant offers to help you choose. This lets you quickly find opportunities for hidden savings or points without having to remember them yourself.”

Merchants. Google listed a number of merchants that support this, including Nike, Sephora, Target, Ulta Beauty, Walmart, Wayfair, and Shopify merchants such as Fenty and Steve Madden.

Availability. This is available in Google Search and the Gemini app in the U.S. starting this summer and with YouTube and Gmail later on.

UCP and AP2. Google expanded the Universal Commerce Protocol on Google to Canada and Australia in the coming months and in the U.K. later on. UCP will also be coming to YouTube and more Google verticals including hotel booking and local food delivery.

Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) helps agents make payments for you, securely and with accountability, Google said. “Just tell your agent the specific brands and products you want and how much it can spend, and the agent only makes the purchase when your criteria are met,” Google explained.

Google will launch AP2 to Google products in the coming months, starting with Gemini Spark.