Google had shut down its service that allowed users to search via SMS, but a basic version of the service can be created using Twilio SMS and Google's Custom Search API. This implementation is bare-bones but provides a framework for expansion with additional filters and more intelligent queries. The project uses Sinatra, the google-api-client gem, Heroku, and Twilio-Ruby to deploy a basic Google SMS app. To set up the custom search engine, users need to create an application in the Google API Console, enable the Custom Search Service, and obtain an API key. A custom search engine is then created with a specific domain name, which is later deleted. The CX parameter from the URL is copied down for later use in the code. The project's code includes a single route `/receivesms` that returns the top 3 results from the Custom Search API, and users can customize this number or add additional filters as per the API documentation. The app can be deployed on Heroku or other hosting services, with users setting up their Twilio number's SMS URL to send search queries to Google via SMS.