Google Chrome may be getting a new search feature that works similarly to “Circle to Search,” the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered visual search tool that Google introduced in January, according to a report. The feature will reportedly be integrated into Google Lens and accessible via a beta version of Google Chrome on desktops and Chromebooks. Notably, Circle to Search was also recently introduced on iOS devices via a shortcut.
Google Lens’ drag to search
According to a report by 9to5Google Google has introduced a new feature called “drag to search” in the Chrome 127 and 128 betas for desktops and Chromebooks. It appears as a Google Lens icon next to the bookmark option in the address bar.
Visual lookup in Google Lens on Chrome for desktop
To activate this feature, users can simply click on the icon and a new window will pop up with a message stating that users can “search everything on this page with Google Lens”. A custom selection window will then appear that can be dragged to search for anything on the webpage. The user interface (UI) of the feature is similar to that on the Android platform, with a glittering look at the edges of the selection window.
According to Google, when a user opens the new Google Lens feature, a screenshot of that page will be sent to the company. Gadgets 360 employees were able to verify the new drag-to-search functionality in Google Chrome 128 beta on Windows. Because it’s only available in a beta version of the web browser, the feature is experimental.
The feature was reportedly first leaked by X (formerly Twitter) user @Leopeva64 through a series of posts in May. At the time, the user speculated that it was an AI-powered lookup feature similar to Circle to Search that could improve on Google Lens’ existing functionality.
Other new features in Chrome
In recent months, Google has been rumored to be developing several new features for its web browser. A report suggested that Google Chrome on Android would soon be able to read web pages aloud in the background, via a feature called “Listen to this page.” The web browser has also added new actions and more features on both Android and iOS platforms in an effort to provide users with an improved search experience.
