Microsoft continues to develop its growing collection of semantic search tools and features. Azure Cloud is the latest Microsoft platform to get semantic search capabilities. This interesting topic came to us from Enterprise AI in their article, “Microsoft Azure Bringing Semantic Search Public Preview to All Users.”
Semantic search adds depth to simple keywords by bringing in contextual meaning and intent to help users more closely find what they are searching for.
Among the new features being released in Azure is semantic ranking, which moves beyond keyword-based ranking to a Transformer-based semantic ranking engine that understands the meaning behind the text. The algorithm prioritizes search results based on how meaningful they are based on query relevance.
The word semantic refers to the meaning or essence of something. Applied to search, semantics relates to the study of words and their logic. Semantic search brings about an enhanced understanding of searcher intent, the ability to extract answers and delivers more personalized results.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in thesaurus, ontology, and taxonomy creation and metadata application.
