News July 21, 2005
The Internet is changing. In the near
future, the "web" concept may prove too
primitive to properly describe the
evolutionary nature of the beast. Something
more abstract perhaps, like Jung's
collective unconscious model-a digital
beehive of collective information,
honeycombs stacked high and deep with
information. And so, searching the nectars
of the hive should also change as spiders
evolve into honeybees.
Editor's Note:
Search experts are increasingly speaking of
the next generation of search that will give
way to personalized "theme" engines, search
engines that will be specially tailored to
user preferences and habits. The transition
will require a whole new approach to search
engine optimization and search marketing. Of
course, when things are in flux, speculation
runs high. Do you think SEO techniques will
require a radical change? Discuss at
WebProWorld.
For many this isn't news. You're already
tapped in, communicating by elaborate dances
on par with quantum string theory and its
highly intuitive mathematics. You know
already that the second generation of search
is rapidly giving way to the third
generation of search and you've adjusted
your SEO techniques accordingly.
 But
for others, if you haven't been paying
attention, a burgeoning third generation
that probes the deepest and traditionally
most inaccessible corners of the Hive, as I
now shall call it, with evermore
awe-inspiring technology and personalized
self-redefining features will be surprising.
It will dawn on you, the way it has on me,
that all the work you've done to get a
higher search engine ranking ISN'T GOING TO
WORK ANYMORE. What used to be content,
content, content will become context,
context, context.
Where We Were, Where We Are, Where We're
Going
In 1992, there were just over 16,000 domains
on the Internet. The only people that really
knew about it were introverted techies who
liked to impress their friends by showing
how to find bomb-building instructions with
their PS 2's. These are the same ilk who
eventually grew up to work for the NSA.
The first generation of search engines
emerged soon after with basic methods based
upon keyword relevancy-the density of
keywords on the site, keywords in the title,
domain, etc. But a system so simple is wide
open for abuse. Enter the spammers morphing
search engines into just another advertising
medium.
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With the second generation, the algorithms
became more sophisticated by not only
measuring keyword relevancy, but also by
adding off-page criteria like page rank,
link popularity, click tracking, cache data,
and two-word keyword combinations for added
context.
The search engine world exploded, leading to
the search king of the hill battle to see
who would preside over the 30 million
domains that had sprouted by 2001.
So here we are now in 2005 balancing on the
edge of a new world so hyper-evolved that
search engines are beginning to "think." The
methods of generations one and two become
only part of the equation.
 "Theme
engines," as they have been called by
Michael Campbell, search engine strategist
and author of the e-book,
"Nothing But ‘Net," are the next
incarnation.
The third generation is much more
personalized and takes into account factors
like geographic location, demographics, time
of day, search history, and user
preferences.
Microsoft's highly anticipated Longhorn
operating system is expected to integrate
desktop and Internet searching by building a
complete portfolio around a user and
tailoring the search results accordingly.
Take
Andy Beal's example of a searcher who
routinely downloads music from the band
"Heart." When typing in the keyword "heart,"
results for the band will appear instead of
links to the American Heart Association.
But most intriguing is how the search engine
spiders (worker bees) will learn to judge
the content of websites.
Read the Rest of the Article.
About the Author:
Jason L. Miller is a staff writer
for WebProNews covering technology
and business. |
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