[DigitalToday reporter Chi-gyu Hwang (황치규)] Google is changing its search service from a link-list format to a conversational AI interface.

The New York Times reported on May 19 that the key to the overhaul is redesigning the search box, which has been in place for more than 25 years, around AI.

The report said Google's search box has for 25 years been a thin, long bar for entering keywords.

Google shifted course toward making the search box bigger and more interactive as AI leads users to type longer, more complex questions.

Users can interact with AI depending on their question without choosing a separate mode at the start of a search. Google also made it possible to upload photos and videos as search queries.

With the overhaul, users can ask follow-up questions to a chatbot from Google Search's main page.

An agent feature is also being added. For example, users looking for an apartment can get alerts on new listings without opening a real estate site such as Zillow.

Users can create and manage multiple information agents within Search. These agents track changes on the web 24 hours a day and notify users when information matching their conditions appears.

The search results screen will also change into something like a web page with stronger interaction. Google will introduce a generative UI that instantly creates widgets and visualisations tailored to a question by combining Gemini with its agent development platform, Google Antigravity. Google developed the generative UI based on Gemini Flash 3.5 with Google DeepMind. The generative UI will be offered free to all users this summer.

A feature is also being added to create customised mini-apps within Search through natural-language commands. These features and the information agents will be offered first this summer to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.

Google plans to expand access to these AI features over the long term. As a result, the share of users who directly click traditional blue links to find information will fall further, TechCrunch reported.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai (순다 피차이) said, "When users use AI-powered search features, they search more," and added, "We are focusing on models with high performance that are also efficient, fast and low-cost in order to provide them to as many people as possible."