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yesterday

Google Launches AI Mode in UK with Android Widget Shortcut

Powered by Gemini 2.5 with multimodal inputs, AI Mode delivers conversational search through tabs, URLs, app features alongside homescreen shortcuts, prompting publisher demands for regulatory safeguards over falling referral traffic.

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Google Search on HP Chromebase
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Overview

  • Google has extended AI Mode to UK users after earlier launches in the US and India, making the feature accessible via a dedicated Search tab, google.com/aimode and the Google apps for Android and iOS.
  • The search experience uses Gemini 2.5 and a query fan-out method to break multi-part queries into subtopics and aggregate answers in a full-screen, conversational format.
  • Users can engage AI Mode with text, voice and image inputs and add a one-tap shortcut to the Android Search widget for immediate access from their homescreen.
  • Publishers report steep declines in click-through and referral traffic since AI Mode and earlier AI Overviews began diverting users away from traditional links.
  • Industry groups including the News Media Association are calling for legal safeguards and fair compensation for content providers under scrutiny by the UK Competition and Markets Authority.