The Future of Search

Search Engine Land, a digital news source, published a very interesting article today about the future of search. For some time now 'relevancy' has been the most important thing in search. Leading search engines, such as Google, pride themselves on delivering the most relevant content to their users. So if a user is searching for information on Hawaii, the search engine will deliver the best information as high up as possible. Results will likely include everything from travel blogs, to airline websites, to hotel and resort information. This information is not only relevant but also useful for people interested in planning a trip to Hawaii.

Search engines however are built on algorithms and those algorithms are understood and followed by internet marketing experts who can manipulate web content so that it ranks higher than it normally would. This can be a great thing for brands who depend on search results for business, but for users, it can compromise the quality of their search. Suddenly, your search for Hawaii has resulted in a series of articles written by non-experts about great summer holiday destinations, of which Hawaii is one. The mention of Hawaii in the article makes the information relevant, but not useful. Usefulness is one of the key features mentioned in the article on the future of search.

The article remarks on users 'master intent' and how if search engines knew what that was, the assistance they could provide would be so much more useful. Of course, with social search this is becoming possible. People have narrowed down their master intent up front by choosing the application that they choose to engage with. If for instance, people are using Google's Local Search, the search engine knows that they are looking for local results; if they are using Twitter, the likelihood is that they're looking for information on a specific subject, content.

The more we use the internet, the more things that we do online, the easier it is for search engines to determine our intent. And as we tie in more information to our search objective, the results become more useful.

While many companies and individuals alike are starting to optimise their blogs for search, and some even their Twitter and Facebook profiles, social media tends to offer content that is more true, because it comes from real people. This is precisely why Facebook is beginning to pose a real threat to Google and other leading search engines. People believe that they can trust their friends, fans and followers across a variety of social media sites and so are starting to look to them to find the answers to their questions.

There are of course many more predictions regarding the future of search. It is a hot topic in digital at the moment and certainly one worth keeping on top of.


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