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Google Prepares to Unleash ‘Semantic Search’

Despite maintaining its seemingly unending dominance over the world of online search, Google seems far from content to rest on its laurels.

Recent figures from Experian Hitwise suggest that Google accounted for almost 92% of all searches in the UK during February, and a quick glance on StatCounter (http://gs.statcounter.com/#search_engine-ww-monthly-201202-201203) reveals a similar dominance throughout much of the world.

But Google is intensely aware of the many young pretenders to its search throne, and the innovative methods and fresh approaches they are taking to challenge the big G’s dominance. To that end, it is planning a rather substantial makeover that could have far-reaching consequences for both the process of searching the web for information, and for the search engine optimisation practices of businesses and marketers.

A new era of Googling?

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal by Amir Efrati (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304459804577281842851136290.html), Google will soon introduce what has been dubbed ‘semantic search’. This in essence means that rather than simply matching up the keywords and phrases typed in the search box with those contained on websites, the search engine algorithms will actually understand the meaning of the search query, enabling it to return more relevant results.

According to Efrati, this shift towards a semantic search engine will be further facilitated by Google’s acquisition of Metaweb Technologies, a company that had developed a database of over 12 million ‘entities’ – similar to encyclopaedic entries as one might find in Wikipedia. This has since been expanded to contain 200 million entities.

A seismic shift for SEO?

Though the exact form that this new improved Google will take is unknown and work continues behind closed doors, it is thought that the search engine may be preparing to offer more detailed information on its own site, rather than simply returning a list of links where users can find what they’re looking for. Moves in this direction have been hinted at previously by the recent inclusion of ‘best guesses’ at the top of some search queries, which generate an immediate answer to factual questions such as ‘How tall is the London Eye?’.

What will the coming changes mean for the SEO of businesses websites? It’s far too early to say, but what is certain is that they need to pay close attention, and be prepared to adapt and find new ways to rank highly in Google. In any case, these changes are not science fiction, they are impending, and Mr Efrati says that, “major changes will show up in the coming months.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jon Celeste .