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Google Search Experiment Aims To Bring Travel-Friendly Features

How Google Is Making Search More Travel-Friendly
Google

Globe-trotters who are also heavy Google users are getting something of a late Christmas present from the online search giant. According to an update on the company's website, Google is planning a slew of improvements to their email service, Gmail, and search engine.

In addition to unifying search across the company's services like Google.com and Google Drive, the tech company is giving users an opportunity to try out some new search features — many of which can help travellers get organized. For example, users can now track their flights via the search bar by typing in "my flights", which will then pull up flight information and status updates above the usual search results.

Travellers who book their hotels or buy tickets to sporting events through Gmail can also find similar information with a quick search. The feature goes beyond the usual ads found on the side of search results and instead allows users to find hotel addresses and checkout times by typing in "my hotel reservation" in Gmail's search bar. Those who frequently eat out may also appreciate the ability to pull up the time and locations of dinner reservations by typing in "my dinner reservations" in Google's search bar.

As it stands, Google's new search features are only available as part of a trial for U.S. residents with @gmail.com email accounts. However, similar functions to obtain flight updates and commute times are available to Android smartphone users in North America through Google Now, a voice recognition software similar to Apple's Siri.

Google hasn't clarified how they are able to pull in users' information, though if it is anything like Google Now, Google new search features will most likely be utilizing information users leave in their cloud-based services (Gmail, Calendar, Drive) in order to deliver personal information, according to Ars Technica.

What do you think of Google's newest proposed features? Handy or a bit too invasive? Let us know in the comment section below, or feel free to tweet your answer to us at @HPCaTravel.

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