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Google's Mobile Search Results Now Include Videos Of Celebrities Answering Your Questions (techcrunch.com)

Posted by msmash on from the who-asked-for-this dept.

Google is testing a new feature that will allow celebrities and other notable figures to answer users' search queries directly in the form of "selfie" videos posted in the Google Search results. From a report: The company says this program is initially being piloted on mobile with a handful of people for now, including Priyanka Chopra, Will Ferrell, Tracee Ellis Ross, Gina Rodriguez, Kenan Thompson, Allison Williams, Nick Jonas, Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Seth MacFarlane, Jonathan Yeo and Dominique Ansel. Of course, the celebs aren't answering users' queries in real-time. Instead, Google has had them pre-record their videos in response to what it already knows are some of fans' most-asked questions typed into the Google search box.

39 of 63 comments (clear)

  1. Depends on who's delivering the answer by dasgoober · · Score: 4, Funny

    "What is fellatio?"

    1. Re:Depends on who's delivering the answer by Major_Disorder · · Score: 2

      Why am I not surprised that a /. user would need to ask the question above?

      --
      First law of people: People are generally stupid.
    2. Re:Depends on who's delivering the answer by fredrated · · Score: 1

      I doubt if they need to ask the question, they just want to see the response.

  2. Video search results? by QuietLagoon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wow, I get to hear a celeb drone on and on, taking twenty times longer to convey the answer to me than it would take for me to read the answer. Sign me up! :)

    1. Re:Video search results? by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

      Think about it from the celebrity's point of view, though... they get asked the same questions over and over every time they interact with their fans, and if they don't answer in a friendly way as if it's the first time that oh-so-fascinating question has been asked... a twitter-mob forms to harass them for it.

      So they sit down on camera and answer the most common questions, once, and maybe they don't have to answer those same questions as often for the rest of their careers.

    2. Re:Video search results? by RightwingNutjob · · Score: 1

      OK...and that's kind of the bargain people enter into when their whole life depends on having a camera jammed in their face. That is to say, I don't give a fuck about their convenience for the same reasons I don't give a fuck about what restaurant they were seen dining at and with whom.

    3. Re:Video search results? by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

      >I don't give a fuck about their convenience for the same reasons I don't give a fuck about what restaurant they were seen dining at and with whom.

      And that is a depressingly uncommon attitude. Celebrities and their fans generate sufficient economic activity that there's a lot of interest in ignoring your preferences.

  3. Why? by Tempest_2084 · · Score: 1

    An I would want this why? Even if I was a fan of the celebrity I can't think of anything more annoying than to sit though a video rather than read the answer in a quarter of the time.

    1. Re:Why? by olsmeister · · Score: 2

      This way you get it from the horses.... errmmm... the celebrity's mouth, not second- or third-hand.

    2. Re:Why? by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      This way you get it from the horses.... errmmm... the celebrity's mouth, not second- or third-hand.

      "Ok google, what is spice-vdagent?"

      "Hi, this is Seth McFarland. Thanks for asking your excellent question. Spice vee-dee agent is a demon that ... and remember to watch 'The Orville' on Fox Thursdays at 9, 8 central."

      How is that not second-hand?

      If I aks google a question about a celebrity, I expect an answer about the celebrity, not a celebrity video.

    3. Re:Why? by rogoshen1 · · Score: 1

      julia roberts is deeply offended by your comment.

  4. I can only say by willoughby · · Score: 1

    Gawd no! And btw "Priyanka Chopra" sounds like an exotic fish meal I'd order in a fancy restaurant.

  5. Priorities aka pseudo-celebrities by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

    And zero fucks were given about these "celebrities". Who the fuck are they and why are they important?

    I'd rather have a _real_ conversation with a teacher or minister to understand today's real problems ... not some invented first world "problem."

    1. Re:Priorities aka pseudo-celebrities by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

      >Who the fuck are they and why are they important?

      This isn't for you. I agree that celebrity worship is silly, but that won't make it go away. Fans have wallets, that makes celebrities important. Fans make or break celebrities' careers... so this happens.

    2. Re:Priorities aka pseudo-celebrities by rogoshen1 · · Score: 1

      you know, religion is wayyyyyy older than psychiatry, but probably functions in much the same way.

    3. Re:Priorities aka pseudo-celebrities by rogoshen1 · · Score: 2

      intentionally obtuse? talking to a god damn priest or imam or whoever about your problems isn't necessarily about theology.

    4. Re:Priorities aka pseudo-celebrities by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 2

      /sarcasm Because _only_ religious people have to deal with abuse, addictions, communication problems, financial problems, intimacy, sexual problems, etc.

      Religion is NOT the _only_ thing ministers deal with dumbass.

      But let's keep blaming an inanimate object, Religion, for all of the world's problem.

    5. Re: Priorities aka pseudo-celebrities by Reverend+Green · · Score: 1

      Actually, probably not. The behavior patterns we medicalize as "psychological problems" are largely by-products of industrial (and now, cybernetic) civilization. Kind of like a form of pollution.

      Despite their appalling lack of smartphones and Netflix, our pre-industrial forebears were almost certainly "mentally healthier" than we are.

    6. Re:Priorities aka pseudo-celebrities by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      But let's keep blaming an inanimate object, Religion, for all of the world's problem.

      Religion is not an inanimate object. It's a concept which only exists in the minds of humans. It's not something which someone gives to someone, it's something that someone does to someone.

      Religion is not "stuff", it does not have mass nor take up space. It is mental and emotional abuse.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    7. Re:Priorities aka pseudo-celebrities by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Why is it irony to go to somebody who specializes in theology for advice on how to deal with moral or ethical dilemmas? Aren't those sorts of problems, the ones without any right answer, the problems religion tries to answer?

      No. Religion tries to answer the question "How do I control this bunch of uneducated, illiterate, desperate people reaching out for help? They seem useful to me." That's why Christianity as we know it was invented, after all. In the original works, Jesus effectively says that you don't need to go to church, because anywhere people gather in his name, you'll find his spirit there. Then whoever Saul of Tarsus actually is came along and changed the whole flavor of the religion. Every place where Jesus claims a godhead is in his works, for example, and that's where the majority of guilt and doom are located. It changed Christianity from a religion for the people to a religion for those who would control them. And so it goes.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  6. DO NOT WANT! by nwaack · · Score: 1

    If I'm forced to watch celebrity videos when doing searches on Google, I will no longer do searches on Google. Plenty of other search engines out there. Problem solved.

    1. Re:DO NOT WANT! by JohnFen · · Score: 1

      Really? Of all of the problems with Google search, this is the one that would make you stop using it?

  7. Ask Charlie Sheen: by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    Is Global Warming real?

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  8. Re:The Dumbing! by sh00z · · Score: 1

    Why would anyone want a celebrity to give an answer? Do people think that somehow math or history answers are better because some actor or musician gives it?

    Idiocracy, I thought you were a joke...

    I'd pay money to have Bill Murray respond to your question with "Lighten up, Francis." Because not everything is life or death. Geez, who wouldn't want will Ferrell personally answering "What's the best way to spread Christmas cheer?"

  9. WTF? by JohnFen · · Score: 1

    Why?? Do people really want this? I am genuinely surprised that this is a thing.

    1. Re:WTF? by coofercat · · Score: 1

      Yeah, if it's not Max Headroom answering, then what's the point?

  10. MoCap would be so much cooler by dkman · · Score: 1

    Get motion capture of their faces making a battery of sounds, along with their voice making a battery of sounds.

    Couple that with enhanced text to speech logic to map the text to those sounds and you could have them answer any question.

    I think it's Apple that has some ad with emoji faces mimicking you in a fancy text message.

    Same concept, just with real people faces and their voices.

    --
    I refuse to sign
    1. Re:MoCap would be so much cooler by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      Get motion capture of their faces making a battery of sounds, along with their voice making a battery of sounds. Couple that with enhanced text to speech logic

      Wasn't that the premise behind 'Max Headroom' -- the use of CGI actors replacing real humans? It was the basis for some sci-fi universe.

    2. Re:MoCap would be so much cooler by dkman · · Score: 1

      Yes, I don't remember if it was Max Headroom, but that was in something.

      I guess in Google's case, however, someone could find a way to get the actor saying something embarrassing and record that.

      --
      I refuse to sign
  11. RTFA by cogeek · · Score: 3, Informative

    All you panic button hitting doomsdayers that are terrified this will ruin your precious Google search, go RTFA. It's celebrities posting videos answering the most common questions they get asked about themselves. It's canned video, not interactive and it won't answer any and every question you ask it with a celebrity. It's celebrities promoting themselves no different than they do on Twitter. This won't affect the average Google user in the slightest.

  12. Yet another by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

    reason to turn off javascript and only whitelist sites.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  13. Just terrible by DarkRookie · · Score: 1

    This just sounds terrible.

    --
    The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
  14. Will Farrel? by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1

    Oh dear...

  15. STOP BEING SUCH BASEMENT DWELLERS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It doesn't even autoload, it's just the top hit (obviously) when you enter that exact phrase listed. Jesus, sometimes you wanna be contrarians will freak out over the smallest shit. Is it really being analytical or contrarian if you have nothing to say???

  16. Who the HELL want's this?!? by Noishkel · · Score: 1

    Honesty, who in the hell thought this was a good idea? Just from a war logistics standpoint you're only going to be answer few special questions. And paying celebrities to do this is going to get very expensive very fast. And beyond that, what benefit will this be for me to have a video playing that eats my mobile bandwidth instead of just letting me read the text that will be displayed on my screen now?

    1. Re: Who the HELL want's this?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The gays

  17. Jennifer Lawrence ... by PPH · · Score: 1

    ... answered my question: No!

    And then something about a restraining order.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  18. Re:The Dumbing! by Obfuscant · · Score: 2

    Geez, who wouldn't want will Ferrell personally answering "What's the best way to spread Christmas cheer?"

    Me.

    Google and Alexa are particularly bad at humor, and Will Ferrell is worse than either. Combine Google and Will Ferrell and you might need hospitalization after hearing the result.

  19. Hey Google by Kohath · · Score: 1

    Why does it seem like celebrities are among the world's worst people?