India presents an ideal environment for rapid innovation as Google develops for a new, AI-driven digital future. Whether through text, voice, gestures, or video, the goal is to provide users with everything at their fingertips, according to Hema Budaraju, Senior Director of Product Management for Google Search. She highlighted India as a critical market due to its diverse and tech-savvy user base.
“Indian users are amazing adopters of technology, and are at the cutting edge of using most of our innovations in compelling ways,” said Budaraju. This includes using voice, image, and multilinguality features, which set a high bar for global standards.
Google Lens and Voice Search Dominate in India
India leads the world in using Google Lens, with its monthly usage doubling over the past 18 months. Additionally, more Indians use voice search daily than in any other country, with nearly double the global average. Budaraju sees this trend as a sign of the potential for AI-powered innovations in India.
“If we bring the best of search and AI to everyone in India — where hundreds of millions of people have different skills, languages, and usage patterns — the future is very promising,” she noted.
Expanding AI Overviews in Indian Languages
On October 3, Google announced plans to extend its AI-powered search feature, AI Overviews, to four more Indian languages: Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, and Marathi. This follows the introduction of the feature in English and Hindi in August. AI Overviews provide quick summaries of search topics, making it easier for users to dive deeper into search results.
During testing, Google observed that Indian users were more inclined to listen to AI Overview responses compared to users in other countries.
Embracing Voice and Visual Search Trends
Google is also leveraging the growing use of voice and visual searches in India. With over 40% of Indian language users interacting via voice on Gemini, Google is launching Gemini Live in Hindi and plans to add support for eight other Indian languages in the coming weeks. Google Lens is also evolving, with experiments allowing users to search by capturing videos and asking complex questions about moving objects.
These updates are part of Google’s broader strategy to reinvent its search product in the AI era, amid growing competition from companies like Microsoft and OpenAI.
Search Is Constantly Evolving
Budaraju emphasized that search is a dynamic field. “Search is not a solved problem; it evolves with technological advances and changing user expectations,” she said. Around 15% of daily searches on Google are new, never-seen-before queries.
The introduction of AI Overviews is part of rethinking the search experience, allowing for personalized exploration and discovery. This feature could help users plan meals or trips based on specific needs.
Addressing Publisher Concerns
The introduction of AI Overviews raised concerns among web publishers about potential loss of traffic and revenue. Google has addressed these concerns by featuring links to relevant web pages within AI Overviews, encouraging users to visit websites for more information.
“We are thoughtful and intentional to ensure that AI Overviews are helpful to consumers,” Budaraju said. Google aims to use AI Overviews to offer value when queries have multiple perspectives or complex insights.
Overcoming Initial Challenges
Despite the positive outlook, AI Overviews had a rocky start when it launched in May, with users encountering bizarre responses like being told to eat rocks. Since then, Google has updated its systems to prevent such errors and limit misleading advice from user-generated content. Detection mechanisms have also been implemented for nonsensical queries.
Budaraju acknowledged that rolling out AI Overviews in Indian languages presents additional challenges, given the cultural and linguistic nuances involved. However, she is confident that Google’s search engine, which has been fine-tuned for years, will meet these challenges.
Scaling AI to a Billion Users
Google aims to scale up AI Overviews to reach over a billion people by the end of the year, reflecting the company’s broader vision for making AI-powered search more accessible across diverse languages and regions.
