The annual Google show at CES is over, with the technology show going virtual

This story is part of CES, where our editors will present the latest news and the hottest gadgets from CES 2021 entirely virtual.

One of the biggest disappointments of CES 2021 going virtual it will be the lack of a flashy Google stand. Whether you cared about the company’s Google Assistant-related bunch of ads, it was hard to deny the stunt employed by the tech giant.

In recent years, Google has exhibited some of the most attractive CES booths in a theme park ride in 2019 for a escape room back at the January show. Unlike other CES heavyweights, like Samsung or LG, Google has chosen to place its typically massive “activations” in the parking lot in front of the Las Vegas Convention Center, suddenly making it a trendy venue for a booth.

Google’s booths have largely boosted the benefits of Google Assistant, underscoring the importance of the digital assistant as it struggled to regain market share from Amazon’s Alexa, which had a head start in the area thanks to Amazon’s Echo speaker range. In fact, Google and its assistant were part of a battle waged by digital assistants in previous CES shows, with extravagant stands and with partners announcing that their respective assistants would come embedded in a new television, car or some other gadget.

But with CES becoming virtual, a change dictated by the continuous coronavirus pandemic, many of the biggest names in the show are choosing to skip the show. Google will hold partner meetings, but will not have a large presence at the show, according to a spokesman. You are not alone – the Consumer Technology Association said it expects about 1,000 exhibitors at the virtual show, less than a quarter of the January total.

As a reminder of what you’ve been missing, take a look at some of Google’s previous exhibitions.

2020: Google’s escape room

The company attempt to promote your digital assistant probably peaked in January during CES 2020, with an escape room where the only way to escape was to use Google Assistant (talk about a captive audience). Google made its presence felt earlier this year in the Vegas Convention Center parking lot with a two-story amusement house that drew long lines throughout the week.

This was the escape room premise: you are meeting with investors (like Silicon Valley) for dinner and they want you to serve a specific dish: bacon and burrata di bufala brussels risotto burritos. You spend the day using Google Assistant to help you navigate to the market, preheat your oven and put on music for dinner.

You couldn’t accuse Google of calling. Part of the experience included being in a car to use the Assistant.

2019: theme park tour

This was one of the favorite moments of Google’s adventure at CES. At a show known for crazy attractions – BMW drove passengers on a drifting experience in the same parking lot a year earlier – Google may have beaten everyone by bringing their own version of “It’s a Small World” through an ironic themed tour.

Google was taking this very seriously. The PA system welcomed the pilots, noting that the trick was “part ride, part marketing coup, let’s be honest with ourselves”. But the fun ride had a serious point to say about the Google Assistant interpreter mode, which was announced at the opening of the program.

This was also the year that Google really made its presence known, spreading “Hey Google” – one of the keywords for Assistant – throughout Las Vegas, including near one of the main entrances to the convention center and on the monorail that connects the meeting place for many of the Strip’s casinos.

At the show, Google announced a series of offerings, including a new smart watch manufactured by Lenovo and a new platform that aims to make it easier for device manufacturers to add the Assistant to their gadgets.

2018: a three-story playground

Google was just getting started with its huge stands. This included multiple rooms displaying different devices with the Google Assistant, and ended with a crooked slide on the third floor. It seems strange now, next to the theme park tour, but at the time it caused a sensation in the show.

With a little bit of a meta touch, the giant booth itself included a bunch of smaller mini booths: phone booths turned into mini art projects in which each showed a Google Assistant ability, from playing music to answering trivial questions.

This marked the first big year for Google on the show.

2017: lots of news, discreet presence

You can give Google a break by being relatively low on this show. This was the first CES since Google launched its Google Home smart speaker, the first device to house Google Assistant. Instead of offering great exposure, Google allowed the partnership ads to take center stage and prove it was gaining momentum to face Amazon’s Alexa. Companies including Belkin, Hyundai, Chrysler and Nvidia all offered support for Assistant.

Google Assistant was more of a curiosity and a project at the time. Now that it is much more widespread – embedded in Android phones, as well as in the increasingly popular line of smart speakers. The digital assistant is a more serious player. If CES had remained a physical event (which in this environment would have been a very bad idea), Google probably would have made another setting that caught the eye.

We will have to wait until CES 2021 to see what Google has up its sleeve.