Google has begun testing personalized information widgets on the search page. Journalists report that the function has so far appeared in a very limited circle of users.
New widgets are made in the form of cards and are displayed at the bottom of the search page. There are six of them and each has its own function:
"Weather" - displays current weather data in the area;
"Now trending" - displays the cover of a popular article that could be of interest to the user;
"What to see" - covers with the name of popular shows, films and series;
"Stocks and the market" - up-to-date charts of the growth and fall of shares;
"Local events" - data about events in the user's area;
"News COVID-19" - news about the coronavirus.
Hovering over the widget opens slightly more detailed information, and clicking the widget's content moves to a new tab. Google warns that cards take into account the user's history and location, thereby selecting relevant content.
Journalists who managed to try the test function said that the number of widgets on the screen directly depends on the size of the display and there is no way to scroll cards on the page.
Google already had a similar personalized iGoogle custom page. The service was introduced in 2005, and in 2013 it was closed and declared that the technology had become obsolete and users no longer use it.
bbabo.Net