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ZDNET Highlights
- Google Search is getting a new AI search box.
- Search notification agents monitor topics in the background.
- Agent coding lets you create small apps for search.
Remember when Google search seemed simple? I’d type a few words into a box, scan a list of blue links, and hope for the best. That version of discovery is long gone, buried beneath AI. At I/O 2026, Google announced several search updates, making it clear that the product is becoming more conversational, more personal, and more like an assistant that can do things for me.
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company Said It’s bringing “advanced modeling capabilities to Search with new AI features,” including a new AI search box, notification agents, agentic coding, and a personalization feature that pulls from My Google Apps data to name a few things.
“The goal of Search has always been simple: to help you ask anything on your mind,” said Liz Reed, vice president and head of Search. Now the difference, at least as I see it, is that search is designed not just to provide answers, but to research, shop, book, monitor, and create on your behalf.
Here’s what’s new, who gets it, and when I think you’ll actually be able to use it.
1. AI Mode runs on Gemini 3.5 Flash
The AI Mode tab in Google Search on desktop and mobile globally is powered by a new model called Gemini 3.5 Flash.
At I/O, Google announced the Gemini 3.5 family and described it as “a huge leap forward in building more capable, intelligent agents.” It says 3.5 flash can “deliver leading performance for agents and coding, excelling in complex long-term tasks.”
It’s basically a fast, agent-ready model that can reason over a variety of sources, handle long signals, understand images and videos, and complete multistep workflows. Google said it’s also making it easier to “continue conversations” in Search. Now I can ask follow-up questions from the AI overview, go into “Conversations back and forth with AI modes” and the search keeps my context.
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According to Google, AI Mode has crossed one billion monthly users. Now, it is releasing Flash 3.5 as the default model behind it.
- Who can access? Gemini 3.5 AI Mode with Flash is available on all devices globally.
- When will it be available? Now, according to Google’s I/O 2026 announcement.
2. A new AI search box
Google is making changes to the search box and separating it from keywords.
Instead of trying to compress a complex idea into a few search terms, the new box is designed for interactive, multimodal queries. I can just go ahead and enter whatever I want. As Google said, “Because your curiosity doesn’t always fit into keywords,” it’s introducing “the biggest upgrade to our search box in more than 25 years… now completely reimagined with AI.”
For me, this means Search should better understand my specific, multi-part conversations. Instead of typing “best portable Bluetooth speaker waterproof Alexa”, I might ask something more like I would ask a person: “I want a portable Bluetooth speaker to take out to the pool. It would be nice if it was waterproof and Alexa supported. Which one is worth buying?”
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I can query text, images, files, videos or Chrome tabs. Google said the new AI Search Box will put “powerful AI tools at your fingertips” with AI suggestions that “go beyond autocomplete.”
- Who can access? The new AI search box is available to all users.
- When will it be available? Google said it is rolling out “starting today” in regions where AI mode is available.
3. Search agents can research things for you
One of the more interesting new search features, to me, might just be Agents.
Google said it is entering the “era of search agents,” where you can create, customize, and manage multiple AI agents inside Search. The idea is that these search agents can continue to work in the background after I ask a question.
The first version is the information agent. I can tell it what I want to monitor, and it will keep checking the web, blogs, news, social posts, and other recent sources. Google used apartment hunting as an example: “You can brain dump all the exact requirements you’re looking for, and your agent will continuously scan for you, and notify you when listings meet your requirements.”
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- Who can access? Google said the information agents will first come to Google AI Pro and Ultra customers.
- When will they be available? Planned for this summer.
4. Search will help to book local services
Search is adding agentic booking capabilities for local services and appointments.
Google’s example: Need a private karaoke room for six with food on Friday night? Google search with Gemini 3.5 Flash will show the latest pricing and availability along with a “direct link to finish booking through the provider of your choice”. But for select categories like home repair, beauty, or pet care, you’ll be able to “ask Google to call the business on your behalf.”
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- Who can access? “These capabilities will be available to everyone in the US,” Google said.
- When will it be available? Summer 2026.
5. Shopping is also becoming more agentic
Google also announced a new AI-powered shopping cart feature linked to Search, Gemini, Google Pay, Gmail, and YouTube. called universal cartThis may follow my shopping research on Google services. It remembers the products I’m considering, monitors price drops, finds alternatives, and helps me build a cart using my payment, membership, loyalty, and shipping details.
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Google said it’s built on Google Wallet and “lets you quickly find hidden savings or points opportunities.” It gave the example of building a custom PC that requires parts from multiple retailers. “Your cart will proactively flag any product incompatibilities and suggest alternatives,” Google said. “It understands your payment method benefits, loyalty information and merchant offers.”
- Who can access? Universal Cart is coming in first on Search and Gemini apps in the US, followed by YouTube and Gmail.
- When will it be available? Universal carts are launching this summer.
6. Agent coding comes up in search
Google is putting one of the most popular use cases of AI front and center in search. Or, as Google put it, it’s “bringing the power of Google AntiGravity and the agentic coding capabilities of Gemini 3.5 Flash straight into search.” This means I can ask Search to code small tools or apps with real-time components like custom generator UIs, layouts, and interactive graphs.
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Examples from Google include an astrophysics visualization, a wedding-planning dashboard, a moving tracker, and a fitness app that pulls new data from reviews, live maps, local sources, and weather.
- Who can access and when? Google said “generative UI capabilities” will be available “for free” to everyone in Search this summer. It also says users will be able to “create custom experiences with AntiGravity, such as mini apps, directly in Search in the coming months,” starting first with Google AI Pro and Ultra customers in the US.
7. Personal Intelligence in AI Mode
Google is bringing its opt-in personalization features to search through personal intelligence in AI mode.
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If I choose to connect apps like Gmail, Google Calendar, or Google Photos, Search will use my information from those apps to provide more personalized answers. That means it may be better at more personal queries, like finding a receipt buried in Gmail or uncovering a relevant Google Photo when researching something. I can connect or disconnect any app at any time.
- Who can access? Google said personal intelligence in AI mode is expanding “to people in 98 languages in nearly 200 countries and territories” — no subscription required.
- When will it be available? It appears that this is starting now.
my takeaway
Google Search has gone far beyond the list of blue links.
Google is now building what looks like a control panel for AI agents. I see this new version as a version built for people who already use AI for search. It can handle long, convoluted, awkwardly specific queries, monitor topics in the background, shop for products, book local services, create short tools, and personalize answers with information pulled directly from connected Google apps.
For power users, this is the fun part: Google is putting agentic tools right into search.
For everyone else, I suspect the most noticeable changes will be the new Personal Intelligence features (if you choose), Gemini 3.5 Flash capabilities in AI mode, and the new AI-powered search box. Google search is no longer just a place where I type in a few keywords and click. It’s smarter, more personal and, in some cases, more willing to work harder for me.
The trade-off is that the more Search becomes an agent that can personalize, monitor, and do tasks for me, the more I have to trust Google with my data and the context behind what I’m asking.
