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Search Interest Growth in AI Travel Tools
Percentage growth in search interest for AI-related travel queries over the past year.
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Google's AI Mode can now help you find products in stock nearby
Image Credits:Jonathan Johnson/Bloomberg / Getty Images 7:00 AM PDT · April 17, 2026 Google is rolling out new features that are designed to help with planning summer travel. The tech giant announced on Friday that its agentic AI within AI Mode can now help check whether what you need is in stock at a nearby store, and that you can now also track prices for individual hotels directly in Search. With its latest AI Mode update, Google can now contact local stores on your behalf to find out what shop carries the specific item you’re looking for. This feature launched directly on Search last November, and is now rolling out on AI Mode in the coming weeks in the United States. You can describe what you need, like “I forgot to pack my prescription sunglasses, so I’m trying to find a pair of clip-on polarized ones that fit over my current glasses. Where can I get some nearby?” Google will then make the calls and send you the details afterwards. Although you can already track hotel prices at the city level, the new update lets you do so for a specific hotel that you’re interested in. On desktop, you can do this by looking up a hotel by name and then tapping the new price tracking toggle. On mobile, you’ll find the option under the “Prices” tab after you search. Once you set this up, you will receive an email alert if the price changes during your chosen dates. Image Credits:Google / As part of its announcement, Google shared that the top trending international and domestic destinations on Google Flights for summer 2026 include St. Maarten, Stockholm, Kansas City, Missouri, and Sarasota, Florida. It also shared search interest in “AI travel assistant” and “AI concierge” has surged by 350% over the past year. Additionally, “how to use AI to find flight deals” emerged as a trending “flight deals” query in the past month, and interest in “AI flight booking” has jumped by 315%. Topics Aisha is a consumer news reporter at TechCrunch. Prior to joining the publication in 2021, she was a telecom reporter at MobileSyrup. Aisha holds an honours bachelor’s degree from University of Toronto and a master’s degree in journalism from Western University. You can contact or verify outreach from Aisha by emailing aisha@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at aisha_malik.01 on Signal. View Bio
How Google's updated AI Mode will ease your tab clutter when you search ...
Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNETFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.ZDNET's key takeawaysChrome's AI Mode now displays a linked site next to your search window.The goal is to cut down on the many tabs you have to juggle.You can also reference multiple recent tabs in a new search.Running a Google search typically shows me the AI overview with an AI-generated summary of the information I want. Since AI isn't always accurate, I make sure to click on some of the links to the third-party sources to investigate them directly. But in the past, this was a clumsy process as each link would open in a separate tab, forcing me to juggle multiple tabs. Now, a new change to AI Mode cuts down on that type of tab clutter.Also: Chrome's new 'Skills' update lets you save AI prompts now - for one-click reuseRolling out to Google Chrome on Thursday is an upgrade to AI Mode that lets you focus on each search result you visit without losing your train of thought. With the new search mode, any website you visit by clicking its link opens side-by-side with your AI Mode screen. This means you can view your search window and the site you visit together on one page. You can then ask Google follow-up questions while still viewing the third-party site."Now, when you're using AI Mode on Chrome desktop, clicking a link opens the web page side-by-side with AI Mode," Google said in a new blog post. "This makes it much easier to visit relevant websites, compare details, and ask follow-up questions while still maintaining the context of your search."How it worksAs one example offered by Google, let's say you're shopping for a coffee maker that fits in your apartment and can make lattes. Using AI Mode in Google Search in Chrome, describe what you want, and you'll see not only the AI summary but links to websites for different retailers. Click the link for a specific retailer, and the resulting website opens next to your AI Mode window. You can then ask Google questions about a coffee maker, and AI Mode will provide more details.Also: Google Chrome's vertical tabs are here: How to opt in and use the new Reading ModeHere's another example. Maybe you're searching Google for information on a technology product. Among the linked results used for the AI overview is one for a ZDNET story. Clicking the link takes you to the story, which displays side-by-side with AI Mode. You can then ask Google further questions about the product while still viewing the story. Screenshot by Lance ...
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