Google Search adds new features to break down language barriers for Indians

Over the next month, Google Search will start to show relevant content in supported Indian languages- Hindi, Bangla, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu - where appropriate, even if the local language query is typed in English.

Google India on Thursday announced a range of features to help deliver an even richer language experience to millions of users across the country where dialects change every hundred kilometers.

"India's digital transformation will be incomplete if English proficiency continues to be the entry barrier for basic and potent uses of the Internet such as buying and selling online, finding jobs, using net banking and digital payments or getting access to information and registering for government schemes," Google said.

Over the next month, Google Search will start to show relevant content in supported Indian languages- Hindi, Bangla, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu - where appropriate, even if the local language query is typed in English.

Gif Credit: Google

In 2016, Google introduced a new tab on Search for mobile, allowing users to easily flip between English and Hindi. The company is now making it easier to toggle Search results between English and four additional local languages- Tamil, Telugu, Bangla and Marathi. To see results in their preferred language, users can simply tap a chip or tab.

Google is also launching the ability to change the language in Google Maps. Users can quickly select one of the nine supported Indian languages, by heading over to the app > Settings > App language. This will help Google Maps users' to search for places, get directions and navigation, and interact with the Map in their preferred local language.

Gif Credit: Google

Furthermore, Google Lens will now allow users to solve a query by simply pointing the camera, right from the Search bar in the Google app. For instance, if you want an explanation of a math problem, you can snap a photo of the question and Lens will turn the image into a query and then based on the query, it will show step-by-step guides and videos to help explain the problem.

Lastly, Google has made Multilingual Representations for Indian Languages (MuRIL), a BERT model pre-trained on 16 Indian languages and their transliterated counterparts, open-source and it can be freely downloaded from the TensorFlow Hub.