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Google starts Gmail and Search field trial

Christopher Park

Christopher Park

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It’s likely that everyone has a Gmail account in addition to other email accounts. An all-encompassing Google account features access to Google Drive, the Google Play Store, Maps, and numerous other lesser known services. Google is now bridging services by starting a trial, connecting Gmail with Google Search.

Bridging Google Search to Gmail is a great way to search for your email or Google Drive content without directly loading either service in your browser. Gmail’s quietly expanding storage means you could have a massive amount of email to manually search through. But Google Search’s keyword filters are simpler and work great.

This means that when you’re using the Gmail webapp, searching for topics will show results from contacts, email, and files you store on Google Drive. When typing a search term, Google Search in Gmail will load search terms and load recent emails and Google Drive documents. When you complete a search, Gmail will load all related emails and chats, but not Google Drive content, which is how it worked before.

The search field is an easy way to quickly search for relevant emails and other information. Google states that it works for Google Calendar, but I personally didn’t see any related results.

With Google Search integrating more in Gmail, Google also flipped it around in Google Search. You can now see search results from your Gmail account in the sidebar. Emails, Google Drive files, and even flight information is now searchable through the standard Google Search bar.

The main search results are still tailored to your Google account because you are signed in, but the ability to find information from Google Search can save time. You can also load email messages though a new tab that will preview the message with the option of opening in Gmail.

Depending on how integrated you are with Google services – or at least with Gmail and Google Drive – the new Search field integration is an excellent option to keep Google seamless. It doesn’t change how you will use the services in big ways and many may not even notice its integration when and if it becomes a standard feature.

But when you use Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Drive as a main productivity suite, the Google Search field results in Gmail and Gmail results on Google.com are great. Unfortunately, the trial doesn’t extend into Android’s Gmail or Chrome apps when signed in, but hopefully it will be integrated after the desktop version is officially released.

If you want to opt-in, go to Google’s trial page to sign up and wait for your confirmation.

Christopher Park

Christopher Park

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