Gerry Campbell recently posted an article on his blog titled “Search is broken – really broken.” His argument is that companies like Google will be faced with creative destruction, because they are failing to recognize trends and consumer demand for real time information. He writes:
Our daily lives are rich with social inference, and they happen in real time. Search from Google, Yahoo… you name it – they are all based on published (e.g. considered, thought-through) documents that take minutes-to-weeks to update in the search index.
Unfortunately, while I think he’s right in that content is becoming more rich and in real time, he’s failed to see some pretty significant improvements by Microsoft’s Live Search.
An updated chart
Instant answers
While the content is based on historical databases, Microsoft has been an innovator with instant answers. More fresh and direct than regular links and most web pages, instant answers gives users valuable data very quickly, such as stock quotes. It’s not an absolutely destination, but a step in the right direction. Here are some of the posts on the Live Search Blog on instant answers:
- Instant Answers in your IE8 search box!
- ‘Tis the season for instant answers
- More Instant Answers
- “I don’t need ten blue links — just give me the answer!”
Partnerships
Additionally, Microsoft’s partnership with Facebook, especially in the search department, gives it access to millions of instant updates. While I’m not sure what the Facebook / Microsoft partnership has in store for users, I’m sure the data will increasingly be shared some way or another.
The partnership with Verizon also helps a ton as more users connect to the Internet via mobile devices than ever before.
Future
Campbell is very right in saying search will be more and more instantaneous and expressed, however I think we’re a a year or two out from mainstream inclusion in one of the big three search engines. Why?
- It’s difficult to monetize a sentence.
- There are still large gains available standard search.
- Twitter, and other “instant” sites, are still very niche.
- Use of “advanced search” (based on personal surveys) is very low.
