Google’s “I’m Feeling Lucky” button has been a familiar part of its homepage since the launch of the search engine 27 years ago, but the company could be about to ditch it.
The web giant is currently testing with select users how to integrate its AI chatbot into its homepage. One option is to replace the “lucky” button with one that reads “AI Mode.” Selecting AI Mode leads to a more conversational interaction regarding your search, eliminating the need to sift through a long list of search results. Google announced the feature earlier this month.
Let’s just remind ourselves about what the I’m Feeling Lucky button does, as there’s a chance that you rarely, if ever, use it. In a nutshell, it bypasses the results on desktop search, taking you directly to the webpage that most closely matches your query.
There’s not much data on how many people ever hit the “lucky” button, though back in 2007, former Google executive Marissa Mayer estimated that 1% of all Google searches went through it. But with more people searching on mobile (where the button is absent) or performing searches via the address box on desktop, it’s likely that even fewer people select the button these days.
Google is also considering putting the AI Mode tab at the right end of the search box, which, if fully implemented, would allow the lucky button to live another day.
It’s not the first time that the lucky button has come under threat. In 2010, the company launched Google Instant, a feature that displayed search results in real time as users typed their queries, with the aim of making searches faster and more intuitive. While the button remained in place, it was covered by the results that cascaded over it as the user typed. Google ditched Instant in 2017, with the ‘lucky’ button once again clearly visible for everyone.
This time, however, the threat seems more serious. Can Google’s I’m Feeling Lucky button survive the ever-expanding tentacles of AI? Watch this space.