Google Now Lets You Search With Emoji

Face it: The folks at Google probably have way more fun at work than you do. On Wednesday, May 18, Google launched emoji search, allowing users to search the web with just an emoji. It's the function you probably never knew you needed, and it's just the latest of Google's fun and handy releases.

With emoji search, you can type just an emoji into Google's search engine and a wealth of results will pop up, including a definition of the symbol, relevant images, and other related links. Previously, searching with just an emoji would not yield any results on Google — although Bing would have come up with something.

According to Search Engine Land, Bing introduced emoji search capabilities back in 2014, but Google's new feature takes the tool one step further than Bing: It shows results related to the meaning and use of the emoji itself, rather that just ones related to what the emoji represents. In other words, using the puppy emoji in a Google search will yield images of real puppies as well as a definition page for the puppy emoji. And who couldn't use a shortcut to search for puppy pictures? They're the best.

While innovative and fun, Google's new search capability doesn't seem to be foolproof just yet. On May 18, searches for some emoji failed to bring up any results. The tricky ones appeared to include flags or some of the icons under Apple's "symbols" tab.

Despite the (minimal) issues, Google's emoji search is reminiscent of the iOS app that it released last week, GBoard. GBoard allows iOS users to glide type, search Google from their keyboard, and insert GIFs into messages more easily. After just one week on the Apple app store, GBoard had made its way into the Top 25 free apps.

Google also announced last week that its Translate app would function offline in 52 different languages. As a result, users can find translations even when an internet connection isn't available. The enhanced functionality makes it easier to use Translate when traveling, which will be incredibly useful.

It's pretty much anyone's guess what the creative folks at Google will come up with next. Word on the street is that it will involve virtual reality and will cater to Google's very own Android users. With emoji search, GBoard, and the Translate update, Google has offered plenty to keep us busy in the meantime.

Image: Alex Gladu (1)