We know that search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN) and their associated retrieval technology anno 2008 are not much more sophisticated than they were, in say, 1998–or for that matter, in 1945 when a scientist, Vannevar Bush, released his essay, “As We May Think” (reference Internet Pioneers). The system he references is remarkably similar to modern hypertext.
While new interfaces, video, images, binary streams of any kind you can think of are easily presented into plugins and other “wares,” we are still struggling to get to the “next level” of retrieval technology.
Algorithmic search, human-aided search and meta search engines are par for the course. To create a search engine that can also include artificial intelligence and provide scalability for the massive internet is still far away.
In the meantime, we are having fun with universal search/blended search, local search and such.
So in the spirit of the power of video and the explosion of its use on the internet, I found this interesting film from Los Angeles that uses a “thousand words” with pictures and the human spirit.
When search engines can figure out all the “things” they must capture, retrieve, organize and intellectually present–for example, in this video–we have reached a goal that search engine scientists everywhere would want and that, I hope, captures users the same way it does in the film below.
The final scene says it all.
This entry was posted on Saturday, April 5th, 2008 at 7:06 pm and is filed under Search Engines, search business, search engine marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.4 Responses to “What Today’s Search Engines Cannot Tell You”
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April 10th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
This is a great video example of what we would want out of search engines. Sometimes search engines can be a tricky thing. I await a new generation of Search Engine technology. Great post and the video is on point!
April 16th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Jon, wouldn’t you say that personalized search represents a first as far as artificial intelligence? I’ve certainly seen different SERPs when I’m logged in to my Google Account, and if it weren’t for the fact that I’m trying to see the SERPs how others see them, I’d probably appreciate my favorite (read: most-clicked site) appear higher up.
April 16th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
BTW, that video is awesome! I really enjoyed it (and when he gets the angle at which she took the picture of herself just right… wow!). That said, I’d be scared if Google (or anyone) could get to that level of Big Brotherness where they could figure out that sort of stuf…
April 16th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Thanks, Gab – I found this video mesmerizing as well. Found it while “stumbling”. Personalized search is an attempt to match personality and user patterns to the search and retrieval experience, yes. In fact, you have seen elements of this on Amazon (simplified). When you are cruising books, it tries to match closely what it thinks you want. AI attempts to perceive its environment and take actions which maximizes its potential chances of success. It’s an exciting future of search! (def: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence)