Alex Joseph, Google Technology Expert

Google is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The guest, Alex Joseph, a Google technology expert, discusses the past 25 years and the future of Google. They talk about how Google has become a part of our daily lives and how it has evolved over the years. They also discuss some of the top trends in Google searches, such as podcasts, dating apps, hashtags, and ASMR. They mention search features powered by AI, including the Search Generative Experience and Google Lens. They express excitement about the future of Google and its integration into our daily lives. Question for you on this very special day. Do you remember your very first Google search? Well picture this, okay? It's 1998. It's last century Google released its very first search engine and you're trying it for the very first time. Do you remember that moment? Well 25 years later the web and the world of course have evolved answers translations navigation Conversations with friends and family are now right at your fingertips and we're honored to be part of this global celebration Involving 25 years of Google here at the RNJ morning program and my guest who's joining me just to talk about what the past 25 years and what maybe what the future looks like as well Alex Joseph who is a Google technology expert is with me this morning here at RNJ Alex. Hi It's a Burt Maron WRNJ radio in New Jersey. How are you? Well, thank you for allowing us to be part of this global celebration that is taking place today with 25 years of Google I tried to remember what my very first search was. I Have no idea. I couldn't even tell you what it was after all these years of of using Google every single day But really congratulations on what's been 25 years We could talk about some of the trends, but I wanted to give you a little bit of a special gift first Alex for this 25th birthday. We have a little birthday jingle that we play here at the radio station It's probably older than you and I combined They've probably been playing it here since the 70s, but it goes like this And I would just have to play it today to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Google So that's my little my little gift to you guys, but like really congratulations To get into the vernacular when someone says I need to Google something I mean, it's become just part of our language part of our daily speech. That is something that that does not come easy That's 25 years of just doing amazing work a day in and day out at a global basis And it's something that I'm sure that is not taken lightly by you and everyone over at Google But should we talk about what some of the top trends have been and some of the things that you've seen over the past 25? years That would be great for it, you know And it's just like you said Google is something we use every day what we thought would be really fun to do for our 25th Birthday is look at other terms that we use every day And when they emerged when people started searching for them on Google and it kind of tells us a little bit more about ourselves So for example podcast, it's something we talk about every day We go to the gym or you know on our way to work might listen to a podcast People weren't searching for that when Google first was founded because it didn't exist. It wasn't until 2004 and That we saw podcasts first spike in our search trends and there was a question of what to call these new Forms of audio it was online radio. It was audio blogging. It was eventually Podcasting and so that was a really fun thing. We saw in our search trends when we looked back over 25 years Another thing I thought was really fun was dating apps We didn't have dating apps when Google was founded and it wasn't until 2010 when he harmony was founded that all of a sudden people started searching for dating apps and now we think of you know, Hinge and all sorts of different tender My things have changed on that front, right Things have really changed on that front over the past quarter century hasn't it also another one that I thought was really interesting Nobody would use the word hashtag I mean What did that even say had it hash was something that you had with a side of eggs when you went out to the diner on? a Saturday morning Hashtag really changed and that was within this past 25 years as well It wasn't until 2013 that we even knew what to call a picture we took of ourselves with our phones That's because just a year or two earlier the iPhone introduced the first front-facing camera So it's just ways that we see new terms kind of emerge in Google search trends and start to spike You can really kind of track back and learn a little bit more about our own history Yeah, interesting and now there's even a museum dedicated to selfies and I don't know how many millions of selfies now are taking But really amazing and one that I actually I have to admit Alex I had a look up before we did the segment today because I had no idea what it was and I wanted to make sure That it was something that was you know radio and broadcast friendly before I brought it to your attention. I had never heard of ASMR before today and I said I got to see what this is This could be like some really horrific slang for something, but it turns out it's something pretty cool Do you want to explain what that is? Yeah, it stands for audio sensory meridian response and basically a woman said I have this sensation every time I listen to Very soft sounds or look at you know images of space and it feels like tingling in the back of my head I don't know what it is And as she searched on Google to figure out if everybody else was having that same sensation Our people, you know, you'll see them making very soft sounds whispering quietly into a microphone and it creates a sensation kind of like a tingling sensation and a relaxation sensation Is that what that is, you know, I've actually heard of it I've heard of it, but I've never heard of it. I don't know what it is I've heard of it, but I've never heard of it. I don't know what it is I've heard of it, but I've never heard of it. I don't know what it is I've heard of it, but I've never heard of it. I don't know what it is I've heard of it, but I've never heard of it. I don't know what it is I've heard of it, but I've never heard of it. I don't know what it is Is that what that is, you know, I've actually experienced that a couple of times Now I know what it is Okay, thank you so much for clarifying that We're celebrating 25 years of Google here at the program today with Alex Joseph Google technology expert and kudos by the way to Alex Whoever came up with the Google Doodle for today Where you took out the two O's in Google and put in the numbers 2 and 5 I mean, that's brilliant I love seeing that Doodle every day And I know that's just one of the things That first impression, every day somebody goes to Google, they get something different I think maybe that's part of your success as well That it's never the same time twice Never the same experience when you go to any of your online products Whether it's on a computer or your smartphone And we also have a few what we call Easter eggs Or little things you can find to kind of celebrate the occasion today So, you know, one of the search features we have built into Google Is called hum to search And you can actually hum a song Or you think you know what it sounds like But aren't sure what it's called And Google will help you identify that Well today if you hum happy birthday You'll see some confetti drop from the screen Also if you search for happy birthday or birthday wishes In any of the global languages that Google covers You'll see it as well So over a hundred languages You can kind of see some confetti And a little celebration on your screen Oh, that is so great And I think that just gives us maybe a little bit of a hint, Alex As to what maybe what the next 25 years of interacting with Google will be like You know, the AI front You know, you guys are right on the cutting edge of that And what it's going to mean to us Probably for generations going forward And all the other cool things that just integrate into our daily lives The simplest things like emails or Google Docs Which I write on every single day To the AI things I mean, 25 years ago You would never be able to say where we are now And it's hard to say where we'll be 25 years from now But any feelings on what's going to be the next big thing? Are we going to build on this AI momentum Maybe for the next several years? Yeah, I mean, I think we are building AI Into all of our most beloved products And of course, the number one product that people turn to is search And so there's a few kind of incredible search features That are powered by AI That people are really responding to And the first is what we call SGE Which is the Search Generative Experience It's the next generation search experience And this helps you actually ask kind of questions conversationally to Google And it responds in an answer that's been synthesized From all across the web And kind of plain spoken, you know, your language It's not 10 blue links It's kind of a summary of what you've searched for The great thing about this is you can go deeper You can ask follow-up questions You can ask for a little bit more detail on a certain part of it And it responds naturally The other thing I really love in search right now is Lens I use it all the time You might have seen this demoed before by a friend or a family member You can actually hold up your phone and look at a foreign language And it translates it right in front of your eyes Or you can hold up your phone and your camera and say What is that picture? Or what is that flower? Or what is that animal I'm seeing? And Google can search just from the image on your phone And tell you exactly what you're seeing Oh, that's come in very handy for me a couple of times Maybe this is a little TMI But every once in a while, someone will send me a picture, Alex And I'm like, hmm, is this really them or not? And then I just fire up Google Lens And I find out that's not you Why would you even send me this picture? But we're celebrating 25 years of Google today And we're real happy, of course, Alex To be part of this global celebration I know it's kind of going around the world with each time zone And, you know, we're still in the overnight hours on the west coast And, you know, the celebration is going to continue As we go throughout the entire day today And I think what's the most exciting thing to me Is that you just don't know what the next 25 years are going to hold If you would have said in the late 90s The day will come where everybody will carry These powerful little devices in their pocket That will have limitless information You'll have a world of wealth of knowledge right at your fingertips Maybe Google said, well, how do we get a seat at that table? How do we get some sort of presence in that particular environment there? And I'm just excited for what the next 25 years hold for Google And for everybody else Yes, and I mean, really it is a story that has been co-authored By everybody that's listening today It is something that, you know, our users And the way that they use our products are what drives us to innovate One really quick example I'll give In 2001, everybody was turning to Google It was actually the most searched query to say Can I see J-Lo's green Grammy dress? And at the time we didn't have image search And so we gave 10 blue links but no green dress And so we quickly brainstormed and engineered a new way To search for images on the web And that was a response to the way that people were using our products We wanted to continue to innovate To make tools that are helpful to everybody every day And so it just goes to show that this is a collaboration With everybody who uses our products It's just, it's an exciting story And I'm also excited to see where we go over the next 25 years Yeah, that's very interesting And what I use Google Drive for almost every day Alex, I do a lot of video and a lot of audio production I don't know where I would be without my 100 gig Google Drive that I use Because it allows me easy access wherever I happen to be If I have to open up a video or an audio project It's right at my fingertips And Google, if anything, it's the ease of use For people like me that use it every day That really makes such a huge difference So I know we ran a little bit long today But as we wrap up, congratulations And enjoy this celebration today And hopefully we have a chance to celebrate more things in the near future But thank you again Thank you for having me, Bert