Chrome's AI History Search: Now with Images for faster Browsing

After launching AI History Search in Chrome, Google has started dispalying images of web pages alongside search results in Canary version. This makes finding websites via History Search using AI even faster and easier.

Chrome AI History Search is a new feature that allows users to search their browsing history using everyday language and even ask questions. AI provides answers based on the content of previously visited pages, even if you don’t remember the exact site or URL.

The feature is evolving. We observed that Chrome Canary now shows thumbnails or preview images next to each result in AI History Search, so users can quickly identify the page they’re looking for. These visual cues reduce the the need to scroll through a long lists of text-based search results in your browsing history.

According to Google Chrome Gerrit, a commit made in January 2024 explains how this feature works. The commit states:

“Add images to results for history embeddings with answers enabled. If a history embeddings search result’s URL is known to sync, try to get an image for the result through the PageImageService using the same client ID as history clusters. If there is no image, the History page falls back to an SVG, and the side panel falls back to the favicon. Update some styling for the side panel.”

This means Chrome attempts to fetch an image for each result using the PageImageService. If no image is found, it displays a default graphic or the site’s favicon, ensuring users always see some kind of visual aid.

For example, if you’re trying to find a recipe you visited earlier, seeing an image of the dish or the website’s layout can help you locate it much faster than reading through URLs or page titles. Keep in mind, you still need to input a search query in whatever way you remember it.

“Using question words like “what” or “where” helps Chrome give you better answers. Alternatively, you can describe what you’re looking for in a few words. As you visit more sites, you’ll see more AI-powered results” as noted by Chrome on the feature page.

Important Note:
“Your searches, best matches, and their page contents are sent to Google and may be seen by human reviewers to improve this feature.” You can always turn off History Search powered by AI by visiting:
chrome://settings/ai/historySearch.

Apart from this, we’ve seen Microsoft Edge testing a similar AI History Search feature in its browser, though it’s not working at the moment. Additionally, Chrome is looking to integrate Google Lens Page Search into the address bar for searching pages. On the other hand, Google has discontinued the highly popular Auto Dark Mode in Chrome.