Busy Week for Google: Search Enhancements, Followed by an Antitrust Suit - AI Trends

Google has had an eventful couple of weeks, announcing enhancements to its search and map capabilities at its virtual "Search On" event on Oct. 15, and on Oct. 20 being accused by the US Justice Department of engaging in anti-competitive practices in order to preserve its search engine business. At the Search On event, Google detailed how it has tapped AI and machine learning techniques to make improvements to Google Maps as well as Search. In an expansion of its search "busyness metrics," users will be able to see how busy locations are without identifying the specific beach, grocery store, pharmacy or other location. COVID-19 safety information will also be added to business profiles across Search and Maps, indicating whether the business is using safety precautions such as temperature checks or plexiglass shields, according to an account in VentureBeat. An improvement to the algorithm beneath the "Did you mean?" features of search, will enable more accurate and precise spelling suggestions.