| By :
Jennifer Robinson
Internet search has evolved continually from its creation. Early search leaders Alta Vista used algorithms that counted keyword frequency and weight determined by code surrounding the words. Dmoz used a directory system to categorise websites, a technique adopted by many early search engines. Meta search engines crawled the web matching queries with title and meta descriptions. All were susceptible to techniques such keyword stuffing that advanced websites to the top and a fledging SEO market was born. Few dot com companies realised how import search would become, concentrating instead on web portals. In the late nineties two search engines concentrated on ordering websites by inbound links, Teoma (Ask) and Google. Google's first algorithm was simple - good sites attract more links. Additionally a pagerank system was introduced that created a hierarchy of websites and importance. Google's algorithm proved very accurate and additionally the full text of pages was indexed. Google quickly rose to become the world’s most popular search engine and their name became so synonymous with search that the net community started referring to the action of search as "google". This is comparable to Xerox domination of photocopiers where copying was referred to as "xeroxing". Inevitably as the algorithms changed so did the SEO market adapt and links became a commodity often sold as internet marketers strove to beat the algorithm. Search evolved further with localised targeting and geographic results built into the engines. Amazon successfully introduced a system of suggestion when people purchased books and it was to provide the eventual focus of today’s leading search engines, Yahoo, Bing, Ask and Google. Search is becoming personalised with algorithms seeking to match search results by profiling users’ history, music preferences, gender, geographic and online profiles. Google said recently it wanted to become the second brain for its users, delivering increasingly individual results. A massive array of information can be combined to create a detailed profile of the users’ potential preferences. The aim of course is to deliver increasingly accurate search results and to sell targeted advertising. A search targeted to your lifestyle and interests that suggests websites that meet your online profile. Pandora produced accurate suggested songs with its music website. Amazon has done it with shopping. Soon we will be seeing more and more search results that are intelligently driven, effectively a psychic search engine that produces the most accurate personal search results for individual users. New search engine Hunch uses a collection of answer by users about aspects of their lives to map users to site recommendations. The mobile web could completely change how search engines work. The touch screen interface does not suit text input search and geographic location that can be tracked through GPS will become the primary factor for mobile search. An interface such as in your navigation system with suggestive text is likely to be the most popular search engine for mobile users. The intelligent algorithms that react to GPS location and preferences are set to become the driving force behind mobile search. A touch screen menu will replace text input and localised advertising will be key. The mobile web presents a challenge to leading search engines and a new opportunity for all because what people search on their mobile connections is going to be very different to what people search on their laptops and desktop computers.
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