Google rolls out activity cards to make Search more useful
San Francisco: Google has started rolling out a new feature called activity cards to make it easier for users to pick up the threads to past searches and continue exploring a topic.
“Activity cards will roll out today on mobile web and the Google app in English in the US,” Andrew Moore, Google’s Product Manager for Search wrote in a blog post on Wednesday.
So when you revisit a query related to a task you had started in the past, Google will show you a card with relevant pages you had already visited and previous queries you had done on this topic.
“As you’re looking to build new habits or pick up new tasks in the new year – whether sticking to an exercise regimen, sprucing up your winter wardrobe, or collecting new ideas for your home – we hope this new feature helps you along your way and makes your search history more accessible and useful,” Moore said.
“If you’re logged into your Google account and search for topics and hobbies like cooking, interior design, fashion, skincare and beauty, fitness, photography and more, you may find an activity card at the top of the results page that provides easy ways to continue your exploration,” Moore added.
Users will also be able to add or delete items to their activity cards.
If you want to mark a page to read or reference later, just touch and hold the link to quickly add items on your activity card to a collection.
You can access your collections by tapping the menu on the top left of the Search page (on mobile web), or through the bottom bar of the Google app.
Users will be able to control what appears in their activity card by pressing to delete an item or turn off cards by tapping the three-dot icon, Google said.
Moore did not reveal if the feature would be rolled out globally any time soon.