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

Google is testing a new homepage that buries the search button for AI

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. Ripple effect: Just like any other big tech corporation these days, Google is investing massive sums in turning AI into a new money-printing machine. The actual results are still not there, and the company might be willing to test its users' tolerance to make an even more mainstream business out of Gemini. Google first introduced AI Mode in March 2025, explaining that the experimental feature would bring more Gemini-based capabilities to its traditional Search experience. About a year later, Mountain View could be ready to go all-in on AI, chatbots, and AI agents, having already swallowed up traditional web content, the advertising business, and the free web browser market. As spotted by Search Engine Watch, Google's latest "experiment" is a new Search homepage shown to users who have not signed into their Google Account. The new page encourages netizens to use more Google AI services, pushing traditional web search queries into the background. The redesigned Search page eliminates the classic search button, adding three new choices in its place: "Create images," "Ask about files," and "Brainstorm." Meanwhile, the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button is still available at the bottom right of the search box. While "Create images" still requires users to sign in, the other buttons can apparently be used without logging into a Google account. The Ask about files feature lets users upload their own file, providing a chatbot-like experience for asking specific questions about its content. Brainstorm, meanwhile, brings the search experience straight into Gemini's AI Mode. SEW says the AI-based homepage changed back to the original design after logging in. The search box and the two main interaction buttons at the bottom were still there, while AI Mode remained a heavily advertised, albeit optional, way to interact with Gemini directly from within the main search box. So far, Google has not offered any word on the new AI-heavy Search experience the company is supposedly working on. Mountain View might eventually describe the feature as yet another volume-limited test the wide public was never supposed to see, but these "errors" are starting to pile up, turning into solid proof that something bigger is coming for the web's most popular search engine. Judging from early user reactions, few are excited to switch to the brand-new AI search page. That reaction goes along a legal record that already isn't doing Google any favors: a US federal judge ruled in 2024 that the company runs an illegal search monopoly, a decision it's still appealing. Meanwhile, Penske Media, owner of Rolling Stone, Variety, and Billboard, is one of the larger publishing houses capable of suing Google over how its AI Overviews lean on publisher content without sending readers, or revenue, back their way. 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 extremely detrimental consequences for content creators and independent publications (like TechSpot). Put in Google's capable hands, the dead internet theory is now a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Google is testing Search without the 'Google Search' button

The updated layout removes the Google Search button, replacing it with three shortcuts to AI features. Google's always looking for more ways to nudge users toward its AI features, and this week, the company's testing another AI-focused tweak to Search. Some users are seeing a redesign of the Google Search homepage that replaces the classic Google Search button with a bunch of shortcuts to AI features. As reported by Search Engine Watch, some users are seeing a version of the Search page that replaces the Google Search button with three AI feature buttons: Create images, Ask about files, and Brainstorm. Per the report, this new layout is showing up for some users when accessing Google's homepage without signing in. Clicking Create images presents a handful of suggestions for types of images to generate using Nano Banana. Ask about files lets users upload files and, well, ask questions about them, which Google's AI will try to answer. Brainstorm with me seems to be a way to start an exchange with Google's AI about any topic. This updated layout retains the legacy I'm Feeling Lucky button. Here's a screenshot of the updated layout from Search Engine Watch, followed by a screenshot of the existing version that I'm still seeing: With the old Google Search button gone, the Search homepage makes no explicit reference to searching the web, instead focusing solely on AI functionality. You should still be able to perform a regular search by entering text into the search bar and pressing the Enter or Return key on your keyboard, however. We don't know how widespread this test is. I'm not seeing the updated layout Search Engine Watch spotted today, regardless of which browser I use, which country my VPN is set to, or whether or not I'm signed into a Google account. What do you think of the updated Search layout? Are you seeing it on your end yet? Let us know in the comments.

After 25 years, Google's iconic Search button is disappearing -- at least for some users

Google is testing the biggest change to its homepage in years If you tried to Google something recently and felt as if things looked a little different, it's not just your imagination. Some users are seeing a redesigned Google homepage that removes the familiar Google Search button and replaces it with shortcuts for AI Mode, Create images, Ask about files and Brainstorm. It's only a test for now, but it's hard to ignore what Google is putting in the Search button's place. I've been writing about AI replacing the internet as we know it for the past several months. For more than 25 years, Google's homepage has barely changed. You type something into the search box, hit Google Search, and get a page of results. Now, Google appears to be experimenting with turning that same box into a chatbot window. Google Search is starting to look a lot more like ChatGPT or Gemini In the experimental layout, Google's traditional search field is surrounded by tools that encourage you to do something other than type a keyword and look through links. There's AI Mode, which lets you ask longer questions and continue the conversation with follow-ups, you can ask about files or even create an image with Nano Banana. Interestingly, I'm Feeling Lucky is still there, but the old Google Search button is not. Sure, you can still type a query, but the experience will be much different as Google is replacing classic search with AI Overviews and Summaries. Google Search VP Robby Stein responded to people spotting the change and said the company isn't getting rid of traditional search. "This is a small test on desktop to help people find new things they can do with Search. No impact to how the core search box works - just add your question and hit enter as usual," Stein said. So, no, the Google Search button has not officially been killed off, but all signs seem to point that direction. If anything, the test still tells us quite a bit about where Google wants Search to go. The end of Google Search as we know it AI Mode has already pushed Google beyond the traditional search-results page by letting users ask complicated questions, follow up on answers and get information synthesized across multiple sources. Google has also been building more image, file and multimodal capabilities directly into Search. Putting shortcuts to those tools on Google.com takes that strategy one step further. Google isn't just adding AI to Search anymore. It's experimenting with making AI the starting point. We're being taught a new way to Google, which is ironic considering Google trained us how to search in the first place. But generative AI has changed everything, which is why Google's experimental homepage appears to be designed around the same behavior. Keywords don't matter anymore, especially when you can search with an image or an uploaded file. The direction we are headed is a fundamentally different relationship with a search engine than we've ever seen. Big consequences for the web There is an obvious downside to all of this, particularly for websites that depend on Google traffic. The more Google answers a question inside its own interface, the less reason there is for someone to click through to another website. That tension already exists with AI Overviews and AI Mode. A homepage that actively steers people toward AI responses rather than traditional search results could accelerate it. It also puts Google into even more direct competition with ChatGPT and other AI assistants. The Google homepage remains some of the most valuable real estate on the internet. If Google starts using it to promote image generation, document analysis, brainstorming and conversational AI, it is effectively turning google.com into a general-purpose AI interface. And Google has one enormous advantage: billions of people already know exactly where to find it. The takeaway Google is very clear that removing the Search button is currently just a test, so I wouldn't declare the death of the Search button yet. But even if the Search button disappears tomorrow, the damage to the internet has already been done. The button was just a symbol at best. The takeaway is what Google has decided is important enough to replace the Search button with: AI Mode. Image generation. File analysis. Brainstorming. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Subscribe to Tom's Guide on YouTube and follow us on TikTok. Finally, you can visit our dedicated Tom's Guide Savings Squad hub for expert help on getting the best products for less.

Google Just Updated Its Home Page to Replace the "Search" Button With a Bunch of AI

Can't-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Since its earliest days, Google's homepage has been iconic in its simplicity: a central text box and a big button labeled "Search." That's now changing. As anticipated, many users are reporting that the "Search" button is no more, replaced by three buttons for various AI features: "Create images," "Ask about files," and "Brainstorm." These are placed next to the lingering "I'm feeling lucky" button, which survived the chopping block. A separate "AI Mode" button that's existed inside the search bar for some time now still features as well. Some of the options, like "Create images," were already featured on the home page of the Google app. The change was first spotted on Monday by search engine experts. You can still perform a regular Google search -- which are already pretty AI-laden -- by hitting enter. But it's clear that Google is further experimenting with its AI-centric vision for navigating the internet, though there's a distinct sense of caution about how far the tech giant is willing to go. Google Search's vice president of product Robby Stein confirmed that this was a "small test." "This is a small test on desktop to help people find new things they can do with Search," he wrote in a post on X. "No impact to how the core search box works." In May, Google teased an "intelligent" search box that expands into an chatbot-like experience as you type. It came loaded with AI features, including the ability to recruit AI agents to automate searches and an autocomplete feature to help finish your thoughts. The biggest change, however, was that the revamped search box showed conversational answers instead of Google's classic "ten blue links" to other websites. Experts viewed this as a threat to the open web. Instead of encouraging users to visit other websites, Google's AI was pilfering and summarizing content into a single contained window. In the long run, this could starve websites of the much needed traffic they need to survive. This was already happening as more people turn to AI chatbots to get their answers instead of a search engine, causing some websites to start using ads that cater to robotic visitors. Still, heavily AI-infused though it may be, the old-fashioned search hasn't been completely replaced by Google -- yet.

Google is testing an AI-first homepage, and the Search button is reportedly taking a back seat

A quietly spotted redesign shows Google testing life without its own Search button. For years, the Search button has been an integral part of the Google Search experience. However, right now, typing "google.com" into a browser is reportedly bringing up a new simplified layout that doesn't include the Search button anymore (for a select group of signed-out users). It appears that the search giant is testing a new, AI-first layout with three dedicated buttons, which are new for traditional Google Search users, but familiar for those who use the Gemini chatbot on a regular basis. What exactly did Google swap in? Search Engine Watch first spotted the change and confirmed it independently across three different web browsers, including Chrome, Edge, and Comet (via Android Authority). The redesigned homepage drops the classic Google Search button. Recommended Videos It seems to feature three new AI-first buttons: Create images, Ask about files, and Brainstorm. These sit right under the horizontal search bar. The AI Mode button still remains inside the search box itself. The "I am feeling lucky" button seems to have survived the design. What's even more interesting is that the Ask about files and Brainstorm reportedly work without logging in at all. The buttons apparently let users upload a document or a PDF and ask questions about it or think out loud with Gemini. Creating images is the one holdout, which is gated behind a sign-in wall, likely because Google wants a verified account attached before it burns through compute money on Nano Banana generations. Is this actually rolling out, or just a test? Here's the catch. The report mentions this new layout only shows for logged-out visitors. Even then, not everyone's seeing it. Factors like location, browser, and session all seem to matter. Google hasn't confirmed the scope of change as well. Here's how I see this, though. This isn't something that's worth ignoring. Google has spent decades defending the simplicity and functionality of its homepage. However, quietly relegating "Search" behind AI-first buttons, or at least testing it, tells us about the company's priorities. While I won't ask you to expect the classic layout's days to be numbered, I can't deny Google's recent push toward its AI ambitions. For now, the layout appears to be a part of an A/B test being shown to a small number of users.