Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Blogs Google Watch
    • Blogs
    • Google Watch
    • Search Engines

    Google Search Crystal Ball Equal Parts Fun, Frightening

    By
    Clint Boulton
    -
    December 15, 2009
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Google’s future of search is looking incredibly bright, but it’s bound to be more than a little disconcerting for privacy advocates because it means Google will act on the data it collects on users.

      ReadWriteWeb’s Marshall Kirkpatrick put Google’s future search focuses, originally relayed by Google’s Marissa Mayer to the Telegraph in three buckets: translated search, social/personalized search and intuitive search.

      Translated search is a great idea and seems harmless. Mayer told the Telegraph:

      “Imagine what it would be like if there was a tool built into the search engine which translated my search query into every language and then searched the entire world’s Websites. And then invoked the translation software a second and third time – to not only then present the results in your native language, but then translated those sites in full when you clicked through.“

      I can imagine this, and it sounds as fantastic as it is challenging, getting all of these moving parts of machine translating firing on the fly. Breaking down the language barriers will put more content in front of more eyeballs in an instant.

      Things are also progressing on the social search and personalization front, as Mayer told the Telegraph:

      “Although we search the Web right now, what we really want to do is search it as each individual user sees the Web. We want Google to be the most accurate reference tool which allows people to search the Web and each have an individual experience. … Understanding the social network structure and the permission rules around social networks status updates when they are not public will really empower us in terms of search.”“

      Well, Google is already showing glimpses of this, right? Its real-time search capability indexes Twitter tweets and public Facebook info. There are questions about whether Google is opening itself up for libel for what people tweet on the microblog.

      There are even more questions about the viability of Google Social Search, which launched to Google Labs in October.

      For those who opt to join this experiment, Google Social Search puts content from searchers’ contacts directly into search results. This so far surfaces anything from restaurant reviews on Yelp to movie reviews on IMDB.com that your friends have written and published to the Web.

      The app sniffs these out, using the social services Google users have listed in their Google profile. Making all of these connections between disparate services is a major technological challenge.

      Moreover, Google can’t possibly make this anything but an opt-in service without raising the hackles of average Joe consumer, let alone privacy nuts. Google definitely has its work cut out for it here.

      Finally, intuitive search. We already use recommendation engines that try to figure out what we like from our Web surfing habits and make suggestions. Adaptive Blue’s Glue is one such Web service I’ve used to get suggestions on books and movies.

      But Google wants to own this Holy Grail, as the Telegraph noted:

      “The ultimate prize for Mayer is intuitive search. She wants Google to be capable of presenting information to users before they even know what they’re looking for. Amazingly she doesn’t think her team [is] that far away from achieving what she calls the “omnivorous” search engine – i.e., one which is able to take a user’s total context – where they are, what they were just reading, which direction their mobile phone is pointed and so on.“

      Mayer said:

      “You could have some information waiting for you when you turn on your computer or some relevant URLs forming part of your browser background or on your side wiki.“

      For this last bit, I’m pretty sure Mayer meant Sidewiki, as in the annotation tool the company is throwing against the wall, but you get the idea.

      And how about that idea? That flips the current search model on its ear because instead of reaching out to Google to get search results, Google reaches out to users with search suggestions.

      That’s another fantastic idea, but one that will require opt-in options – no opt-out at all – or else Google will risk further scorn and scrutiny from privacy watchdogs.

      Because you’re essentially giving Google the right to guess what you want based on your Web surfing behaviors and deliver it to you. Where the Web is concerned, Google would deign to know you personally from your search predilections.

      There are a number of search geeks and technologists who will love this, but your average Joe consumer won’t cotton to this so easily, I suspect.

      Google must tread very carefully as it brings search into the future.

      Clint Boulton

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×