Google has rolled out an exciting and intuitive “Circle to Search” feature on January 31st, which gives seamless retrieval via gesture-based searching. We give valuable insight into how smartphone users, brands, and marketers can make the most of this new concept.
Forget the days of painstakingly typing queries or switching between apps to find information. Remember Tom Cruise in “Minority Report,” effortlessly manipulating information with a wave of his hand? Google’s “Circle to Search” brings that futuristic vision to your phone. Draw a circle around anything on your screen and bring forth instant knowledge. This blog post dives deep into how Circle to Search can improve your search experience as a user and how brands can use it to promote their business.
What is Google’s “Circle to Search”?
Circle to Search is a new feature in Android phones that allows you to search from within every app on your phone without being compelled to switch to a browser. You can search for whatever is on your screen through a handful of gestures.
Here’s more about how it works if you want to try it.
- Circle: You can circle things on the screen if you are interested in them.
- Swipe: Swipe your finger to go over the text that you want to look up.
- Scribble: Scribble an area on the screen and look for what is inside.
Once you perform any of these gestures, Google Search will instantly and intuitively provide relevant information like product details, definitions, or translations. And this will happen without switching the app and breaking your train of thought. Here is a video on what this technology looks like. You are sure to be impressed.
Which Smartphone Devices Currently Support This New “Circle to Search” Feature?
Google announced Circle to Search technology on 31 January 2024. Right now, it is only available on select premium Android smartphones:
- Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro from Google.
- Galaxy S24 series from Samsung.
But Google plans to broaden its availability by making it compatible with other Android devices over time. This will not take long because of the feature’s appeal.
How to Use Circle to Search?
Circling: Picture yourself watching a movie or scrolling through social media on your smartphone. An actress’ handbag or a woman’s sandals catches your eye and makes you interested in it. You tap on or circle it, triggering a search, instantly providing you with product details, like where you can buy it and comparing similar brands and prices without leaving the original app. Circling about a place like a building in a photograph or landmark in a travel video will instantly bring forth relevant details like location, background, and reviews.
Highlighting: Have a question about a specific phrase while reading a news article or chatting with a client? You tap or highlight the text, and Circle to Search will present you with relevant definitions, translations, or additional context within the same app that you’re using.
Or else you see a friend’s social media post about a new restaurant they tried. If you’re curious about the restaurant, you can highlight its name and use Circle to Search. This feature will show you where, what kind of food it serves, and what customers think. This way, you can learn more without leaving the social media platform.
Scribbling: You can quickly research something by scribbling over a specific area, like a news headline or a group of objects in an image. Circle to Search will analyze the content and show relevant search results based on the identified elements.
For example, you are watching a historical documentary on YouTube or Netflix. You see a group of people in traditional clothing. You wonder about the clothes and what they mean culturally. Instead of stopping to search online, you scribble over the group of people. It will detail the clothing style, origin, and cultural importance.
How Google’s “Circle to Search” Feature Will Enhance User’s Search Experience?
So, Circle to Search saves you from hassle by satisfying your queries without interrupting the workflow.
Here’s why this is a game-changer:
- No more App-hopping: Everything you need is at your fingertips. You don’t have to leave the app you use to satisfy a query or find a particular information. This keeps your train of thought intact and your workflow smooth.
- Speed Boost: You don’t have to type long queries. A quick circle or highlight will do the job and get you what you want. Sometimes, leaving the original app and Googling for an answer can cause you to get diverted or ‘go down the rabbit hole.’ These few saved minutes can translate into hours over a busy week.
- Better Comprehension: Getting the information right where and when needed improves your understanding. It also lets you connect seemingly unrelated pieces of information, leading to more holistic comprehension. Contextual knowledge boosts the retention factor, too.
What Are the Challenges and Opportunities the Circle to Search Features Bring Forth for Content Creation?
Circle to Search holds potential challenges and opportunities for content marketers, brands, and businesses. How can they embrace it and up their game?
Here is a detail of what we at Aun Digital think about this new technology:
- Shifting Focus: Content creators must be more creative to drive users to use different Circle to Search gestures. Keyword-centric or text-based approaches will not do the job for them. They must adopt a more visual approach and strategically place their products in captivating photos and videos.
- Tweaking Existing Content: They might need to change their published content to make it more Circle-friendly. That could mean adding detailed descriptions to images, mentioning specific product names instead of general terms, or adding interactive features to induce or facilitate Circle gestures.
- Devising New Metrics: Right now, it’s tricky to figure out how well content is doing to get people to search on Circle because we don’t have tools to track it. Brands might have to get creative and find new ways to see how their content makes people interested enough to search on Circle.
Final Words
Circle to Search isn’t just a new search tool – it’s a significant change in how we find information. It makes searching more accessible for regular users and helps us understand things better.
This new search feature will not just redefine the search experience for users. But corporations and digital marketing agencies in Dubai and abroad can also become a key part of this search revolution as it opens up new opportunities to run targeted ad campaigns embedded with shoppable QR codes. Not only that but interactive product discovery enables users to instantly access relevant product information such as; product description, price, reviews & recommendations, and payment options.
Bear in mind that Circle to Search is still in its infancy, and Google is experimenting with a new set of search features and options. But despite that, the feature offers an extremely intuitive and hassle-free experience for users to search and discover relevant product information without even leaving the app they’re in.
FAQs
- What devices support Circle to Search?
Currently, Circle to Search is available on only a few fancy new Android phones, like the Pixel 8 series from Google and the Galaxy S24 series from Samsung. But don’t worry; more devices will likely join the party soon.
- How do I use Circle to Search?
Hold down your home button (or use the shortcut for your Google Assistant) and then draw a circle around whatever you want to know more about on your screen.
- What are the benefits of Circle to Search?
Well, instead of switching apps and typing out long prompts or questions in search engines, you can circle something and get the info you want right there and right then.
