These are the top 3 trends we saw at Google I/O

This is an excerpt from a story delivered exclusively to Business Insider Intelligence Apps and Platforms Briefing subscribers. To receive the full story plus other insights each morning, click here.At its annual I/O developer conference last week, Google made a slew of announcements that provide a glimpse into the company's long-term growth strategies:Google is breaking away from the premium smartphone segment, following Apple's and Samsung's lead. It launched the Pixel 3a ($400) and Pixel 3a XL ($480), which start at around half the price of the Pixel 3 ($800) but preserve many of the flagship's premium features. The release comes on the heels of Samsung's Galaxy S10e launch in February and Apple's iPhone XR launch in September 2018, both of which are lower-priced versions of their flagship models. Google's Pixel 3a series launch will help the company grow its Pixel user ecosystem, especially among the more price-sensitive consumers. This strategy is necessary given the average selling price (ASP) of smartphones is on an upward swing: In 2018, smartphone ASP increased more than 10% from 2017.The tech giant is betting on AR capabilities in its core apps — Maps and Search — to enable it to eventually monetize the technology. AR is an emerging technology that improves the user experience by providing engaging, informative, and valuable information. If the company finds that AR is a successful selling point for using its services, it would likely incentivize Google to accelerate efforts to build out an ecosystem for consumer-focused AR hardware — which will be a massive opportunity in the years ahead. Consumer AR headset shipments are expected to spike 733% by 2024 to reach 2.5 million shipments, up from under 300,000 in 2019. It gave its AI-driven voice assistant a major overhaul, a move that will ultimately boost adoption of Assistant-powered connected devices. Google unveiled the next generation of its Assistant platform, which is 10 times faster in its ability to process and deliver voice responses. That's because the AI model that powers the Assistant runs locally on the device now, as opposed to the cloud, effectively eliminating network latency and expediting the Assistant's responses. By embracing on-device AI processing, Google can reduce user frustrations with delayed responses while also integrating more advanced capabilities — like the newly announced “Picks for you” feature that takes user preferences into account to deliver personalized responses.The bigger picture: Google is feeling pressure to strengthen its offerings as its biggest revenue-driving segment — Ads — continues to experience slowing growth.Google's seen four straight quarters of slowing year-over-year (YoY) ad revenue growth. Its most recent figures revealed that ad revenue YoY growth slowed from 24% in Q1 2018 to 15% in Q1 2019. Considering that the company's ad business accounts for over 80% of its total revenue, a consistent deceleration in growth is clearly an area of concern for the tech giant.As such, Google appears to be bulking up its other solutions in the hopes of both driving ad revenue and promoting growth from segments beyond the Ads business. For example, adding AR to Search could increase consumer engagement, resulting in more businesses paying Google to get their unique AR experiences in front of these consumers.And improving Google Assistant's capabilities could lead to higher interest in and adoption of the company's devices, such as its Pixel smartphone or Nest Hub.Interested in getting the full story？ Here are two ways to get access: 1. Sign up for the Apps and Platforms Briefing to get it delivered to your inbox 4x a week. >> Get Started2. Subscribe to a Premium pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to the Apps and Platforms Briefing, plus more than 250 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More Now