There’s a simple reason Google is making sweeping changes to its iconic, decades-old search engine: users are making complicated requests.

“People are asking much longer and harder questions that no longer have a clear response anywhere on the internet,” said Robby Stein, vice president of product for Google Search.

Stein spoke to CNN about a new feature that lets Google generate custom visuals, interactive graphics and even mini-apps running on Google’s search page in response to queries by piecing together sources from across the web. It’s one of many updates the internet giant announced at its annual conference this week.

The most valuable real estate on the internet is evolving to reflect the new ways people find information online, the latest example of how artificial intelligence is changing the internet across search, social media, online shopping and more.

People are starting to use longer, more specific search terms instead of succinct generic keywords, according to Google, and are increasingly beginning their searches in apps like ChatGPT, experts say. Fake, AI-generated influencers are causing a stir on social media. And people are increasingly using AI to compare and buy products.

It’s getting impossible to avoid using the internet without somehow encountering AI, despite growing anxiety about the tech and its impact on jobs, safety and the environment.

“After a while, it just becomes part of the way you live,” said Joseph Turow, a University of Pennsylvania media professor who will soon be releasing a book about AI’s impact on internet advertising.

Google says its search box is getting its biggest upgrade in 25 years. The new search field expands to fit more text and makes it easier to add other media to a search — like photos, files and Chrome browser tabs.

Attendees walk past a Google sign at Google I/O on May 19, 2026, in Mountain View, California.
Attendees walk past a Google sign at Google I/O on May 19, 2026, in Mountain View, California.
Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images

There’s a simple reason Google is making sweeping changes to its iconic, decades-old search engine: users are making complicated requests.

“People are asking much longer and harder questions that no longer have a clear response anywhere on the internet,” said Robby Stein, vice president of product for Google Search.

Stein spoke to CNN about a new feature that lets Google generate custom visuals, interactive graphics and even mini-apps running on Google’s search page in response to queries by piecing together sources from across the web. It’s one of many updates the internet giant announced at its annual conference this week.

The most valuable real estate on the internet is evolving to reflect the new ways people find information online, the latest example of how artificial intelligence is changing the internet across search, social media, online shopping and more.

People are starting to use longer, more specific search terms instead of succinct generic keywords, according to Google, and are increasingly beginning their searches in apps like ChatGPT, experts say. Fake, AI-generated influencers are causing a stir on social media. And people are increasingly using AI to compare and buy products.

It’s getting impossible to avoid using the internet without somehow encountering AI, despite growing anxiety about the tech and its impact on jobs, safety and the environment.

“After a while, it just becomes part of the way you live,” said Joseph Turow, a University of Pennsylvania media professor who will soon be releasing a book about AI’s impact on internet advertising.
ChatGPT ‘trained’ people to search differently

Google says its search box is getting its biggest upgrade in 25 years. The new search field expands to fit more text and makes it easier to add other media to a search — like photos, files and Chrome browser tabs.

The goal is to shrink the number of steps for a user to complete a search, according to Stein. That includes tasks like performing a search based on a photo or switching to Google’s AI Mode before asking a follow-up question.

Searches that involve questions based on snapping a photo or circling something on a phone screen are growing 60%, year-over-year, he said.

Searches in AI Mode, or the version of Google tailored for back-and-forth interactions, have more than doubled every quarter since they launched a year ago, and AI Mode queries are triple the length of a regular search on average.

Data from SEO and marketing firm Semrush indicates some people are starting to search Google the way they type to ChatGPT. Searches containing 11 words or more increased from 3.27% to 5.37%, and conversational queries jumped from 5% to 20%, while keyword-style searches decreased. Yet the median query still contains just three words, suggesting that most people still search the old-fashioned way.