Search Engines 2.0: Revolutionizing Online Search

“Search” no longer just means putting a few keywords into Google and getting an index of websites with varying levels of relevance. In fact, search engines are not search engines anymore; they are answer engines expected to deliver answers to everything — from the most to-the-point question to the most abstract philosophical inquiry. 

With the integration of advanced AI, all this and more is being made possible.

Searching with Style

As technology evolves, so do user expectations — and vice versa. Search engines of today can understand and interpret human language and behavior better than ever. In some areas, especially, we’re already witnessing the makings of the future of search.

• Increasing Personalization: For the longest time, search engines used a combination of factors such as search history, location, and language to provide personalized results. However, AI taking personalization to a whole new level. By analyzing data such as browsing history, social media activity, and online shopping behavior, AI can gain a much deeper understanding of individual preferences and interests. This allows search engines to provide highly tailored results that are more relevant and useful to the user.

• The Rise of Voice Search: As virtual assistants such as Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant become more commonplace and able to understand humans better, voice search is gaining mainstream acceptance, underscored by the increasing popularity of smart speakers. Search engines will still need to adapt to the nuances of spoken language, including regional accents and dialects, to provide accurate and relevant search results. With AI-powered virtual assistants better equipped to handle conversational dialogue, voice search will soon become a reliable staple on search engines.

• Better and More Useful Answers: Natural language processing (NLP) is a key area where AI is making significant strides. Typically, search engines use keyword-based algorithms to match search queries with relevant results. However, AI-powered NLP is enabling search engines to better understand the intent behind the search query, making it possible to provide more nuanced and accurate results. For example, if a user searches for “best pizza place near me,” NLP enables the search engine to understand that the user is looking for a recommendation for a pizza restaurant, rather than simply displaying a list of nearby pizza places.

• Search Becomes More Visual: Currently, image recognition technology is used to enable users to search for information based on images. However, in the future, this technology is set to become more sophisticated, allowing users to search for information based on videos, 3D models, and other visual content. This will be particularly useful in areas such as fashion, where users can search for items based on images, colors, and patterns. Imagine how easy it will be to find similar dresses or accessories from a given picture rather than an endless list of keywords and filters to get to what you want.

• Predictive Search: AI is enabling search engines to make predictions about what users are looking for before they even type a query. This is achieved by analyzing user behavior and search history to identify patterns and trends. For example, if a user frequently searches for vegan recipes, the search engine proactively recommends vegan-friendly restaurants or food blogs.

• Less Fraud and Spam: With so much information available on the internet, we are often not sure what to trust and what not to trust. AI algorithms can help us by analyzing user behavior to detect and prevent fraudulent activity, such as click fraud or fake reviews. This will make search results more reliable and trustworthy.

Image by Freepik

Searching for Alternatives

Google has been the undisputed king of search since the beginning of search. When a brand name becomes describing the very activity, it is telling of the sheer impact it has had in defining the concept. Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo — they have all tried and failed to challenge Google over the years. But now, as AI transforms our search experience, will it transform the makeup of the industry as well? 

In recent years, Google has focused on enhancing its search algorithms and AI capabilities to provide more accurate and comprehensive search results. For example, Google has introduced machine learning-based algorithms to understand user intent and semantic search, which helps it deliver more meaningful search results. Additionally, it is investing heavily in voice search and visual search technologies to make search more accessible and convenient.

Recently, it has also introduced Bard, a chatbot that uses AI and NLP to understand complex questions and provide direct answers. Bard’s AI technology is capable of understanding context, interpreting nuance, and generating accurate responses in natural language. As Google continues to improve its AI capabilities to provide a more immersive and personalized search experience, many in the industry expect its dominance to continue.

The emergence of large language models such as ChatGPT further complicates the future of search.

However, newer players are ensuring that the battle is not as one sided as it was the last time. In particular, the emergence of large language models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT further complicates the future of search. While not strictly a search engine, these models are capable of understanding complex queries and generating relevant and personalized responses far more sophisticated than Google — drawing on a vast body of training data. With the addition of the browsing feature, like the Browse with Bing for GPT-4 (which has temporarily been rolled back due to legal issues), these models will become even more potent and able to yield current, relevant information.

Towards a Brighter Future

We can expect the future of search and search engines with AI to be more personalized, more intuitive, more responsive to users’ needs, and ultimately, more useful in providing relevant information. Search engines will be increasingly optimized for a better user experience rather than just the quantum of results. From a business viewpoint, it has become imperative in today’s digital landscape to understand the digital journey of a consumer in order to understand how to best meet their needs and requirements. Stepping up search strategies beyond cosmetic and tactical optimizations is critical for businesses to keep users loyal to their platforms. AI can help make that a whole lot easier.

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Written By: Nimesh Bansal