Google has an array of assistive tools designed to save you time, like Assistant’s ability to read out articles. However, the company has doubled down on its generative AI efforts since ChatGPT popularized the textual content generation and summarization capabilities of large language models. Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) Test focuses on the latter, helping people digest data–laden web pages by boiling them down to simplified nuggets of critical information. This experience received a major update last week, and we got our first look at its abilities in a couple of real-world applications.

If you haven’t heard, SGE fuses generative AI with Google Search to deliver information-rich results to the users in an organic manner. Google introduced Search Generative Experience While Browsing last week, available on the Google app for Android and iOS, and Chrome browser on desktop. It is one of the key components of SGE, designed to condense long articles into a short list of key points.

The feature also provides source links, so you can read further and satiate your curiosity. It also furnishes an Explore on page section showing questions that might come to mind after reading the summary, leaving the corresponding answers just a tap away. SGE While Browsing is already rolling out to English users in the US, but you must enable it for your account first. After jumping through those hoops, we went hands-on with the feature and were pleasantly surprised.

As advertised, SGE While Browsing is great for summarizing articles, like this one from The Verge. The Related insights tab reduces the article down to three points, with an accompanying disclaimer that this is an experimental feature. The tab behaves similarly, even tasked with summarizing a product description on a grocery store website. AI integration also provides a button beside some point in the summary, which links to highlighted sections in the web page elaborating on the point.

SGE While Browsing works remarkably well even on grocery store websites

Under the summary, the Explore on page section helpfully links to a Search result for “What is Carolina Tangy gold?” Switching to the About this Page tab shows us a quick summary about the business (sourced from Wikipedia), a paragraph from the website’s About page, and an assortment of reviews from the web.

In toto, the feature should make it much easier to glean valuable information from websites without exerting yourself. Moreover, Google’s implementation seems transparent, linking back to sources of the presented summary, allowing you to read up if you like. This can be revolutionary for Search, drastically cutting down time spent hunting for specific answers, so long as Google can ensure the summaries are unbiased, comprehensive, and informative.

Thanks: Nick and Anthony