Google pushes search toward task fulfillment

Google is turning Search from a place that finds information into a product that also tries to complete tasks. (blog.google) That shift became visible in May 2025, when Google rolled AI Mode out in the United States without requiring a Labs sign-up. Google said the feature uses a “query fan-out” system that breaks a question into subtopics and runs many searches at once. (blog.google) Google paired that rollout with usage claims meant to show the format is sticking. The company said AI Overviews were driving more than a 10% increase in Google usage for the kinds of queries where those summaries appear in markets including the United States and India. (blog.google) The product moved beyond summarizing webpages in July 2025. Google said AI Mode could use Gemini 2.5 Pro for harder questions, generate fully cited Deep Search reports after issuing hundreds of searches, and call local businesses to ask about pricing and availability. (blog.google) In August 2025, Google added more overtly “agentic” features. It said AI Mode could search reservation platforms for restaurant availability and then send users to booking pages, with local service appointments and event tickets planned next. (blog.google) Google also tied those actions to outside services instead of only its own index. The company said the reservation and ticketing features rely on live web browsing from Project Mariner, partner integrations, the Knowledge Graph and Google Maps, with partners including OpenTable, Resy, Tock, Ticketmaster, StubHub, SeatGeek and Booksy. (blog.google) Shopping shows the same direction in a more concrete way. At Google I/O 2025, Google said AI Mode shopping would combine Gemini with its Shopping Graph, which it said contains more than 50 billion product listings and refreshes more than 2 billion of them every hour. (blog.google) That shopping push did not stop at recommendations. Google said users could set a target price, get a notification when an item dropped, and then tap “buy for me,” which would add the product to a merchant cart and complete checkout with Google Pay. (blog.google) By March 2026, Google was also wiring personal data into the experience. It expanded “Personal Intelligence” in the United States across AI Mode, the Gemini app and Gemini in Chrome, letting users connect apps such as Gmail and Google Photos for tailored shopping, travel and troubleshooting responses. (blog.google) Google is also trying to shape the infrastructure behind those transactions. In January 2026, it announced the Universal Commerce Protocol, an open standard for “agentic commerce” that it said would let agents, merchants and payment providers work together across discovery, buying and post-purchase support. (blog.google) Taken together, the product changes show Google pushing Search toward orchestration: searching, comparing, contacting, booking and buying in one flow. The more Search acts on a user’s behalf, the less it looks like a list of links and the more it looks like a task engine. (blog.google 1) (blog.google 2)