Google is under pressure around the world due to a series of antitrust lawsuits based on its dominance as both a search engine and a web browser.
Recently, the company announced a few tweaks to the way its Chrome browser responds to things typed into the URL bar that it calls the “Omnibar.”
In the past, users could type search terms into the Omnibar which would then utilize Google’s search engine to respond with a normal list of sites from the search.
The new changes include Omnibar’s ability to correct mistyped text in real time, providing more accurate searches.
The second change provides the user with a list of URLs that predict where they want to go based on their personalized history.
This second change bypasses the Google search altogether, which the company has been reluctant to do in the past.
Speculation is that the change is being added for two main reasons.
The first is that it gives the company some ammunition in its efforts to not simply use the dominance of Chrome to push added search traffic through its search engine – a practice that inflates its own traffic and drives up advertising and SEO dollars.
The second is that, with the addition of underlying AI technology under the cover of its search engine, simple searches are costing more.
So, it seems like Google is seemingly okay with providing a more personalized and direct route for users to get to the websites they want without having to make a stop on the search engine first.
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