Google Tests New Gemini-Inspired Animation for AI Overviews in Search

Google Might Be Testing a New Animation for the AI Overviews Feature

The new animation is more aligned with other Gemini interfaces Google might be testing a new animation for its artificial intelligence (AI) search summary feature AI Overviews. On Saturday, a social media user posted about the new loading animation that replaces the existing blue lines that show up when the AI is preparing a summary for a searched query. As per the post, the new animation has a blue and purple roaming spotlight effect, which is similar to what users see with the Gemini AI assistant on Android and Gemini Live. Reddit user Gaiden206 posted a screenshot of AI Overviews on the Bard subreddit on December 28 highlighting the new animation. Several other users in the comments also reported seeing the new animation. Separately, a 9to5Google report also confirmed its existence and added that it is currently showing up for some users and has not been launched globally. Gadgets 360 staff members were also not able to verify the presence of the new animation. Based on the screenshot shared in the post, the new animation shows up after a query has been searched on Google Search and before a summary is generated. Currently, users will see "blue lines" indicating that AI Overviews is generating a response. However, with the new animation, the tech giant is said to be replacing it with a blue and purple roaming spotlight. A similar animation style can also be seen on the Gemini AI assistant and Gemini Live. Apart from the animation, the post also showcased several other minor changes. Currently, the wait lines (prompted messages shown while the AI is generating the response) include "Searching" and "Generating". But in the screenshot, the interface has some new wait lines including "Looking this up", "Working on it", and "Putting it all together". While these are just quality-of-life changes, Google might be aiming to make its AI Overviews more appealing to users and make the load times less mundane. This would align with the company CEO Sundar Pichai's statements made to employees at a recent strategy meeting. As per the report, Pichai highlighted the need to scale the consumer side of its AI products and solve real user problems as the focus area for the next year.

AI Overviews in Google Search could get a Gemini-inspired visual upgrade

Google tries a questionable new tactic to promote Gemini in Google Messages Summary Google is testing a new Gemini-style animation for the AI Overviews loading screen in Search. The updated animation features blue and green hues, along with new on-screen text. Google recently said it was testing the new Gemini 2.0 model with AI Overviews, with this updated animation possibly being a part of it. ✕ Remove Ads AI Overviews have taken over the conventional Google Search experience, with the feature now available almost everywhere after being limited to just a few countries initially. Google is now giving AI Overviews a bit of a glow-up, with the search giant testing a Gemini-style animation for the loading page just before the results appear. Related Google's AI Overviews take one step forward and two steps back Ads arrive as Google's sourcing finally improves Posts1 A Reddit user was the first to spot this change and was kind enough to provide imagery, as well as a video detailing this new loading animation (via 9to5Google). It's a completely new look and a big departure from the blue lines we see on the loading animation in the current version of AI Overviews. Source: Reddit - Gaiden206 ✕ Remove Ads As you can see from the image above, the loading animation has a hue of blue and green, which we associate with Google Gemini. Meanwhile, the search labs logo and the accompanying text (Generating) are still present. What's also different are the sentences "Working on this" and "Putting it all together" that appear on the screen as the user waits for the result. This updated animation isn't widely available yet Close Thanks to the video submitted by the Reddit user, we also know that the phrase "Working on this" may be replaced by "Looking this up" in some cases. It's unclear if there are more such phrases present to keep things fresh and avoid repetition. Coupled with the new color scheme and the onscreen text, this is definitely an upgrade over the current AI Overviews experience. ✕ Remove Ads The updated loading animation is available in a limited capacity, so you likely won't find it the next time you run a query on Google. However, this is likely related to Google's recent Gemini 2.0 announcement, where the company said it was testing the new model in AI Overviews. It was also said at the time that this test would be carried out in a limited capacity. With these factors in mind, it's hard to tell when (or if) Google will make this widely available to all users. Google accelerated its AI efforts towards the end of 2022, leading to the release of Bard chatbot (later renamed Gemini) in early 2023. Earlier this year, Google officially rolled out AI Overviews after working on it for several months. However, it was far from perfect during the early weeks of its availability. Thankfully, Google didn't take long to fix those issues and improve AI Overviews' overall quality, thus making it a viable alternative to the conventional Google Search experience. ✕ Remove Ads

Google Search AI Overviews testing new Gemini animation

Google is testing a new Gemini-aligned loading animation for AI Overviews in Search that is flashier and bolder than the current approach. When loading, AI Overviews first say "Searching..." before switching to "Generating..." with blue lines of text appearing just before the text comes in. It's badged with the Gemini sparkle + "AI Overview" or beaker + "Search Labs | AI Overview" if you're in that beta program. Google is now testing a new animation in Search Labs that immediately says "Generating..." in the top-left corner followed by "Looking this up" lower in the page and then "Putting it all together." There is a blue and purple spotlight pulsating through the rectangular container that more explicitly connects AI Overviews to Gemini. A similar glow appears around the Gemini overlay on Android and in Gemini Live. The label at the top says "Generative AI is experimental," which harkens back to the early days of AI Overviews. This could just be a new animation, but one possibility is that the new look coincides with Gemini 2.0. Earlier this month, the company started testing the new model for AI Overviews in Search. Google said Gemini 2.0's "advanced reasoning capabilities" will help AI Overviews "tackle more complex topics and multi-step questions, including advanced math equations, multimodal queries and coding," with a broader rollout "early next year. That would explain the badge and why it seems to be a hair slower than what's in stable. There are a handful of reports about this new animation, but it's not yet launched for all users.