Comments on: Search leaders debate semantics

Everyone agrees that semantic search technology--the notion of correctly assessing a searcher's intent--holds promise, and maybe money.

[lonestarState]

Search will not be controlled by anyone one company in the near future, it will be as open as an API. BuildaSearch is a good example where search is going, allow anyone to build a search engine from numerous sources is the way of the future. Search today is like the Model T, boring needing new colors and customization.

[Random_Walk]

No no no no no! a thousand times no!

Most of us who already know how to use the Internet (and have been using it since long before there was a 'world wide web') have long ago figured out that we can find what we need on a search engine by just using the proper search terms... (seriously - Archie was 10000x more of a PITA to search on, and even it gave good results if you told it what you really wanted).

Sorry, but the last thing I need is for some search engine to confuse a lookup of some obscure IT bug with plane tickets or sites out to hawk life insurance (and if you think the current system is easy to game, wait'll they start trying to guess based on content what search users want...)

Seriously - there's a reason ask.com is way the hell down there in marketshare...

[Seaspray0]

"there's a reason.... " Maybe we should ask.com them what the reason is. <pun intended>

[Len Bullard]

Lots of attempts at this have been made and it's been discussed to death in technical forums such as XML-Dev. a) Too easy to game in a system that is already heavily gamed. b) It feels like pushing string or hanging by taffy. c) It exacerbates the problem of what is called "the record of authority".

It is an irony that the hot tech du jour is a 140 character text system while the academics keep slugging at a solution for which most have decided there is no problem. The Semantic Web is six critics in a balcony discussing a live performance while it is going on. It might be better to just listen.

[Seaspray0]

Tom, it sounds to me like symantec search will require some kind of fuzzy logic.