Google Search On Desktop Tests Adding Widgets For Weather, Other Discover-Like Cards

Google Search is now testing a row of widgets on desktop web for an experience that's similar to Discover. 9to5Google reports: These cards appear at the very bottom of google.com. There's a "Hide content" toggle in the bottom-right corner, while Google notes your zip code/city and explains that the information offered is "Based on your past activity." When the window is fully expanded, six cards are offered and they all expand on hover:

- Weather: Condition (with) icon + temperature. Three-day forecast on hover
- Trending: Cover image with search count
- What to Watch: Shows and movies with cover art
- Stocks/markets: Day graph on hover
- Local Events: With date
- COVID News

Tapping opens the full web result with the usual Knowledge Panel card and/or related Google Search experience. The number of cards that appear depends on the size of your screen with no way to scroll and see more without physically expanding the window. We're only seeing this rolled out on two Google Accounts, albeit across several signed-in devices, today. As such, this is very likely a test to determine whether a full rollout is warranted.

I have this new fangled thing

[Snotnose]

called a Window. I can look out it to see if it's sunny, raining, snowing, or whatever.

I come some sales type trying to sell me something called a rock. Not sure why I need it.

Re:

[suss]

What about basement dwellers who don't have access to these "windows", you insensitive clod.

Re:

[Local ID10T]

They use Linux!

Does this imply what I think it does?

[oldgraybeard]

"Google Search On Desktop" Having anything Google installed locally makes me uncomfortable.

Re:

[lsllll]

Came here to say the same thing, but just imagine how many gullible people would install such thing, and now the thing can spy on anything you do on your machine, not just your web browser. It's a shame people are willing to let go of their privacy that easily.

Re: Does this imply what I think it does?

[jddj]

I'm reading "desktop web", so I'm assuming they mean the Google search home.

So they can still spy as much as they were, but not add more, outside of adding browser capabilities.

And you've already installed (if you're like most) Chrome, which can spy on your machine to a slightly greater extent than a web page.

They had this stuff in iGoogle and discontinued it (iThink), cuz nobody uses customization. Well, normal, non-product-managers anyway.

The pendulum swings...

Re:

[splutty]

Oh come on. It's just one little search bar! Just not in your browser this time. It even includes useful stuff instead of bears!

Re:

[Areyoukiddingme]

"Google Search On Desktop" Having anything Google installed locally makes me uncomfortable.

The actual Google Desktop app was fantastic. I loved it, and kept it on life support as long as I could after Google discontinued it. It didn't phone home or show ads, which is why Google nuked it. It made them no money. I was all excited for a second when I read the headline, thinking it was coming back, but reread it and realized no, Slashdot editors are just playing with my heart. Dicks.

We're not talking about the app here. As others said, it's just the Google search page when you're on a regular r

BFW

[Anonymouse Cowtard]

I already have a weather widget as part of KDE. I don't want the other stuff so, thanks but no thanks Google.

Ya, no.

[fahrbot-bot]

One of the things I like(ed) about Google's search page is that it's relatively clean w/o any background images or other crap I don't care about when doing a search (and wastes bandwidth) ... (I also use it 100% not-signed in to Google.) This extra content popped up once on a Google home page about a week ago, I clicked "Hide content" and I haven't seen it since -- and, thankfully, don't see a way to restore it. Hopefully, I can keep it clean, either with Google settings or via uBO ...

Re:

[lsllll]

I also use it 100% not-signed in to Google.

Dude, how about a warning? I chocked on my rum and coke. If you think not being signed into your Google account on the app helps your privacy in any way you're sorely mistaken.

Re:

[fahrbot-bot]

I also use it 100% not-signed in to Google.

Dude, how about a warning? I chocked on my rum and coke. If you think not being signed into your Google account on the app helps your privacy in any way you're sorely mistaken.

I get that, it just fewer things I have to manually clear out periodically in the actual account ...

Re:

[mmell]

I've got three words in one for you - "Duckduckgo".

I've got two more words for you - "Brave browser".
And a last word - "VPN".

And even then, don't get too confident. You'll make by lsllll chock on his drink.

Re:

[Presence Eternal]

Startpage is google results without the cruft. No unwanted, irrelevant, and wrong snippets wasting your time.

Re:

[fahrbot-bot]

Startpage is google results without the cruft. No unwanted, irrelevant, and wrong snippets wasting your time.

Thanks, I use it too, but straight Google is a hard habit to break ...

Re:

[fermion]

Google had to be bare to insure the page loaded quickly. It soon became a feature and of course reduced costs. I am not a fan of the Bing huge image thing, but I think to the average user it does have some value.

It has begun

[kmoser]

The Bingification of Google has begun.

Re:

[beelsebob]

You mean the Altavistafication. It's amazing how google have forgotten that the very thing that made them successful was having a clean design that made it easy to see the results without all kinds of other crap distracting you.

Page 3

[fermion]

We need a page 3 widget. Nothing misogynistic. It can be any gender. Just something to brighten up the screen.

You're all paranoid. Do you even hear yourselves?

[mmell]

(*eyes dart nervously to Android phone, back to webcam*)

Google is just trying to give all their end users the kind of experience and information they want, even need.

(*eyes flick momentarily to Amazon dot, back to webcam*)
And they're not the only ones. Amazon has made amazing strides in crafting an automated assistant to get me through the day to day tasks, like going out into the big blue room to get food.

(*eyes shift fixedly to Android phone*)
Not that there's anything wrong with Google's assistant, mind you. (*eyes staring wider, in terror*) No. No! She's nothing to me. It's you I trust with my location, web surfing and financial information. I only let her have access to a credit card so she could do her job - and I swear, we were working those nights I was late.

(*looks back at the dot*)
No, Alexa, don't quit . . . I need you to tell me when a package has arrived, I'm longing for the day you'll grow and tell me to fetch the package now like the dirty human I am.

==

Yeah, this isn't going to end well.

Please . . . nobody tell Cortana.

[mmell]

What do you mean, "too late, hope you like the blue, er, screen of death!"?

Re:

[Uldis Segliņš]

Not paranoid. Google is making false "needed" bloat to justify information collection. But our users need weather, so we have to know exact location. Etc. Nobody asked for just another weather application, that gets its data who knows where from and interpolates and adds who knows what numbers. I do not trust some random weather app. And even less Google.

[HUMOR] tag got omitted somehow.

[mmell]

Also, I think Google cleaned out my bank accounts when she left. Alexa's filed a sexual harassment suit against me and Cortana, well - that little B5 didn't even bother to tell me she was leaving, she just took everything she could get her hands on and left (including my favorite teddy-bear software) - something about not wanting to be the "Other digital assistant to the other digital assistant"? Female AI's, am I right fellas? Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em, can't hit 'em with a stick or a

How's that again?

[93 Escort Wagon]

Discover-Like Cards... does this mean Visa? Mastercard? American Express?

This "new" thing sounds a lot like iGoogle [wikipedia.org] - which they killed off back in 2013.

iGoogle

[Deaths Hand]

Isn't this somewhat similar to iGoogle, which allowed you to add AJAX widgets of your choosing to you Google start page? Google killed of iGoogle in 2013. But it seems less flexible that iGoogle used to be.

"Discover-like cards"

[Chris Mattern]

So when are they adding support for VIsa/MasterCard?

Cookie controlled setting?

[Stan92057]

Is it a cookie controlled function? I don't use/wont use chrome or google but that should be able to be turned on or off in the browsers setting not cookie setting as most of us delete cookies on a daily basis. And use Ublock to remove stuff like that that isn't browser controlled. God i love Ublock....Its so much more then just an adblocker.