Google (GOOG) wants to settle that argument you’re having with your friend over text message.
Already the go-to destination for daily disputes over historical facts, figures and more, the search giant has patented a way to immediately look for answers right inside a text message window, Quartz reports. The new software would embed a search function within a messaging platform that allows users to seamlessly ask Google a question without leaving the conversation.
Google received the patent on May 12, and it aims to halt arguments by quickly looking up the requested information. For instance, Google provided an example of a couple looking to vacation in Europe. Mid-conversation, one person asks “Superfinder,” the text prompt needed to begin a query, “Superfinder: Exchange Rate of Euros to Dollars.” Google returns with the information instantly, allowing the conversation to continue uninterrupted.
This is reportedly the first time that a search function would be embedded within a text conversation, Quartz reports.
While there are some services available right now for voice search—like Apple’s Siri and Google’s own “OK Google”—they can’t really be used during a conversation or in a text message. Slack, the enterprise communication software, has a built-in bot called Slackbot that users can ask to remind it of something while they continue to talk to humans, but you can’t ask it anything else.
It’s unclear when, or even if, the new technology will be made available to the public. A Google spokesperson told Quartz the new search method may not even be turned into a product, as it’s still in the early stages. The news comes after the release of a new Google program, Tone, which lets users share links via sound.
