Google is making the process of searching online easier with its new “multisearch” feature. While this feature isn’t entirely unexpected, it is long overdue since it was teased last December.
With the multisearch feature, users can search using both text and images simultaneously via Google Lens. For now, it is in beta mode in English in the US only. The feature will start its beta testing today.
“At Google, we’re always dreaming up new ways to help you uncover the information you’re looking for — no matter how tricky it might be to express what you need,” Google said in a blog post. “That’s why today, we’re introducing an entirely new way to search: using text and images at the same time. With multisearch on Lens, you can go beyond the search box and ask questions about what you see.”
This will surely be the news of the hour for the shopaholics, whose search for the items of their desire will ease considerably. A dress has caught your eye but you prefer the same in another color? Or perhaps with a different pattern? The multisearch feature is the thing for you.
First, make sure that you have the latest version of the Google app on your Android or iOS device. Next, present an image with Google Lens through your camera’s viewfinder to identify an object in the physical world or by selecting an existing image from your camera roll.
Then swipe up and click on the “+ Add to your search” button. Customize your search now with what you are looking for using text, and Google will show you what you are looking for.
Now that you have an idea of how the feature works, you may ask where it will be applicable. The most obvious answer to that question is shopping – it seems that the feature is almost made for the shopaholics out there – but it can be used for much more. Of course, with an infinite search area comes infinite combinations of searching (including both text and images) and Google cannot promise that the multisearch feature will be perfect for every search.
“We want to help people understand questions naturally,” said Google’s search director Lou Wang.
Undoubtedly, though, this will help people search for items they may have trouble describing more accurately. You have a pair of shoes that is dear to you, but they have worn out and you want a similar pair but in a different color (say, black), so the multisearch feature will come in handy then. Additionally, you can use it to search for “how to fix” solutions when something needs fixing.
