Google Tests Radical Homepage Redesign, Replaces 25-Year-Old Search Button With AI Tools

Google Removes Search Button in Experimental Homepage Redesign

Google is testing a new homepage that removes the Search button—a fixture of its interface for over 25 years—and replaces it with three AI-driven shortcuts: Create images, Ask about files, and Brainstorm1

1

2

2

. The redesigned homepage appears to logged-out users on desktop and was first spotted by Search Engine Watch, which confirmed the change across multiple browsers including Chrome, Edge, and Comet5

5

. While users can still perform traditional web search by pressing Enter, the updated layout makes no explicit reference to searching the web, instead prioritizing AI-powered capabilities2

2

.

The Ask about files and Brainstorm features work without logging in, allowing users to upload documents or PDFs and ask questions about them or engage in conversational brainstorming with Gemini AI5

5

. Create images requires sign-in and uses Nano Banana for image generation2

2

. The legacy "I'm Feeling Lucky" button remains at the bottom right of the search box, while the AI Mode button continues to exist inside the search bar itself1

1

4

4

.

Google's Strategic Shift Toward AI-First Experience

Google Search VP Robby Stein confirmed the change is a "small test on desktop to help people find new things they can do with Search," emphasizing there's "no impact to how the core search box works"3

3

4

4

. However, the test represents a fundamental shift in how Google wants users to interact with its platform. The company first introduced AI Mode in March 2025, bringing more Gemini-based capabilities to its traditional Search experience1

1

. This AI-first homepage takes that strategy further, making AI the starting point rather than an optional add-on3

3

.

The redesigned homepage effectively transforms Google.com from a search engine into a general-purpose AI interface3

3

. This positions Google in direct competition with ChatGPT and other AI assistants, with one enormous advantage: billions of people already know exactly where to find it. The homepage represents some of the most valuable real estate on the internet, and Google is now using it to promote image generation, document analysis, brainstorming, and conversational AI3

3

.

Implications for the Web Ecosystem and Content Creators

The shift toward an AI-first homepage raises concerns about the future of the open web. The more Google answers questions inside its own chatbot-like interface, the less reason users have to click through to other websites3

3

. This tension already exists with AI Overviews and AI Mode, but a homepage that actively steers people toward AI responses rather than traditional web search could accelerate the problem. Websites that depend on Google traffic face an existential threat as generative AI pilfering and summarizing content into a single contained window could starve them of much-needed visitors4

4

.

Google is being accused of abusing its monopolistic market position to turn the entire web into a Gemini-powered chatbot experience, which is already having detrimental consequences for content creators and independent publications1

1

. A US federal judge ruled in 2024 that Google runs an illegal search monopoly, a decision the company is still appealing. Meanwhile, Penske Media, owner of Rolling Stone, Variety, and Billboard, is among larger publishing houses suing Google over how its AI Overviews lean on publisher content without sending readers or revenue back their way1

1

. The dead internet theory, in Google's hands, appears to be becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy1

1

.

What This A/B Test Reveals About Google's Future

While the AI-first homepage currently appears only to a select group of logged-out users and hasn't been confirmed for widespread rollout, the A/B test reveals Google's priorities5

5

. The company has spent decades defending the simplicity and functionality of its homepage, but quietly relegating the Search button behind AI-driven shortcuts signals where Mountain View wants to take its platform. Keywords don't matter anymore when you can search with an image or an uploaded file—the direction is a fundamentally different relationship with a search engine than we've ever seen3

3

.

Early user reactions suggest few are excited to switch to the brand-new AI search page1

1

. However, Google's pattern of testing features that later become mainstream suggests this could be more than just an experiment. The company might describe this as a volume-limited test the public was never supposed to see, but these "errors" are piling up as solid proof that something bigger is coming for the web's most popular search engine1

1

. Watch for how Google balances its AI ambitions with maintaining traffic to the broader web ecosystem, and whether regulatory pressure from monopoly allegations influences the pace of this transformation.