By analogy with the evolution of aviation, search technology and semantic technology have reached the equivalent of the stealth bombers. Boolean expressions made searches more sophisticated through the use of query modifiers. It became possible to find better results by narrowing or widening the parameters. Keyword searches match results to phrases that are specified by users, and advanced algorithms made this the dominant approach for Web search engines by assigning rankings to pages with the best user experience. But what about context? This interesting topic came from Search Engine Journal in their article, “The Stealthy Rise of Semantic Search.”
Semantic search uses machine intelligence to determine the intended meaning of words so searches become more relevant. This didn’t happen overnight. Semantic search is a much more comprehensive and powerful technology that can return exact results based on the context, content, and user intent. Consumers benefit in this new world of search.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in thesaurus, ontology, and taxonomy creation and metadata application.
