Mountain View, Calif. — Google is making one of the most significant changes to its search product in years, introducing a redesigned search bar and new artificial intelligence tools that can independently browse the web, monitor information over time and complete complex tasks on behalf of users.

The updates, announced Tuesday, reflect Google’s accelerating push to transform search from a simple query-and-results tool into an AI-powered assistant capable of reasoning, tracking and acting across multiple services. The changes arrive as competition intensifies from OpenAI, Microsoft and other companies racing to redefine how people access information online.

At the center of the rollout is a refreshed search interface powered by Google’s Gemini 3.5 Flash model. The new search field is designed to handle longer, more conversational prompts, a departure from the short keyword-style searches that have defined Google for decades. Instead of typing fragments such as “best running shoes 2026” or “weather Paris,” users can enter more natural requests that resemble the way they speak to chatbots such as Gemini or ChatGPT.

Google is also introducing an agent-like capability inside Search that can track topics and return updates over time. The company said the feature may be useful for tasks such as apartment hunting, following product releases or watching for announcements from brands and athletes. In one example, Google said users could ask it to alert them when favorite athletes announce sneaker collaborations or signature drops.

That shift is notable because it moves Search beyond static retrieval and toward active monitoring. Rather than relying on users to repeatedly re-run the same search, Google’s tools can now continue looking for relevant developments and surface results when something changes. For consumers, it could mean less manual searching. For publishers and advertisers, it could mean a changed relationship between audiences and the web.

The company is also expanding what Search can generate in response to certain prompts. In some cases, Google will create custom visuals or mini apps tailored to a user’s request. One example cited by the company is a fitness tracker that combines location data, weather information and apps connected to a Google account. The feature signals Google’s growing willingness to let AI not just summarize the web, but build interactive experiences from it.

The move comes as Google tries to adapt to a changing online landscape in which many users increasingly expect answers in conversation form rather than through lists of links. Search remains Google’s core business, but the company faces pressure to preserve that dominance as AI assistants become more capable and more central to daily digital tasks.

The redesigned Search experience is only one part of a broader announcement that includes new features for Gemini, Google’s AI assistant. Among them is Spark, a new mode that can work in the background on recurring, long-term tasks. Google says Spark can monitor email inboxes and credit card statements for important updates, then organize the findings into summaries or to-do lists.

Spark is also designed to work across several Google apps. The company said it can reference material from Google Docs, Gmail and Slides to compile notes and perform related tasks. Support for additional third-party apps is expected later. The feature marks another step toward making Gemini less of a chat interface and more of a personal operating layer for digital work.

Google is extending Spark to the Gemini app on Mac computers as well, giving the tool access to local files. On mobile devices, users will be able to monitor their agents through a new Android feature called Halo, allowing them to keep track of work being done in the background from their phones.

The changes underscore how quickly Google is rethinking its identity in the AI era. For years, the company’s search bar was a symbol of simplicity: a blank box, a few words and a cascade of links. Now, Google appears to be betting that the future belongs to a more interactive, more personalized and more autonomous search experience.

That transformation is not without risk. A more powerful search assistant may reduce the need for users to visit websites directly, potentially altering traffic patterns across the internet. It also raises questions about accuracy, transparency and control, especially when AI systems are tasked with acting autonomously or compiling information from multiple sources.

Still, the direction is clear. Google is increasingly positioning Search as a smart agent rather than a passive index, and the company is using Gemini to knit together search, productivity and personal assistance into a single ecosystem. For users, the payoff could be convenience and speed. For Google, the goal is to ensure that even as the web changes, its search bar remains the starting point for it all.

As the rollout continues, the biggest question may be whether people are ready to trade the familiar search box for a more conversational, always-on digital assistant — and whether the rest of the internet is prepared for what that shift could mean.