The Shape of Search to Come
Like most people my default search engine is Google, and what originally drew me to it years ago was the simplicity and accuracy of the results.? Just like I and many others abandoned other search engines for Google, I wonder, what would it take for us to move to “XYZ search” and have that serve as our new default?? What will search look like 3, 5 or 10 years from now?? The concept of disruptive technologies/innovation has always fascinated me, especially envisioning or trying to spot things that could potentially be disruptive to what is the norm now.? Recently I’ve been tinkering around with a few distinctive search engines and, while I won’t be switching from Google any time soon, I think they might give some clues to the shape of search to come.
Tafiti – This is a relatively new search engine from Microsoft which is powered by Silverlight and Live Search.? While I don’t fine the search results to be the best from Live Search, the way results are can be displayed and managed with Tafiti is really interesting.? Your searches are neatly stacked in note cards (although I wish I could jump back to an earlier search without deleting others), and you are able to drag sites into little glass shelves on the side of the screen that you can label and jump back to later.? Another interesting feature is that results are organized by website, RSS feeds (I’ve discovered a few great new blogs this way), books, news and images.? I encourage you to explore Tafiti, at the least you might discover some interesting new blogs and see how jazzed up the future of search might become.
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Pagebull – Interesting if you’re a visual person and would rather glance at a website than read the description to see if it’s along the lines of what you’re looking for.? The results are screenshots of the search results.? I like searching this way more than I might have imagined – although I do miss skimming the website description.? This might be helped with a tooltip or something similar.
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Quintura – Quintura is interesting because your search is presented on the left in an expandable cloud that you’re able to navigate through and refine your search.? What is nice about this is that as you further refine your search terms and focus search results are presented in the traditional way on the right side of the screen.? There is also the option of saving and sharing your search results. ?
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Clusty – This search is somewhat traditional in that results are presented pretty much the way we’re use to; however, on the left side of the screen the results are broken down into clusters.? Each cluster can be navigated like a standard tree structure.? A search for ‘knowledge management’ brings up clusters such as Resources, Software, Consulting, Community of Practice, Newsletter, Tools, etc.? There seems to be a real focus on narrowing search results around a central theme, which is helpful.
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Grokker – This seems to be one of the speedier and intuitive search interfaces that go beyond the traditional search engine.? The default search results are shown in two panes, an outline view and a detail view (the traditional site title, description) but with the added bonus of being able to bookmark, email, etc.? The outline is a traditional tree structure and does a great job of narrowing down by subject what I might be interested in digging into deeper.? I can also switch from outline view to their map view, which does a great job of visualizing the clusters of information around a specific topic.? What I like best about Grokker is that it is so easy to jump right into and start using – it keeps things simple but offers a unique way of displaying and exploring the information that is out there.? What’s interesting is that they also proudly display on their homepage that they were named Trend Setting Product of 2007 by KM World.? As the most usable of the alternative search engines I’ve tried I can see why.
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Ms. Dewey – This search is more for giggles than for anything else, but I thought I would mention it anyway.? Ms. Dewey (any relation to Melvil?) is a Microsoft product and, like Tafiti, is powered by Live Search.? Ms. Dewey appears to be a live person, responding to your search queries, making fun of you and your search results, etc.? This seems more like Subservient Chicken than an attempt to create the next great search application.? Still, it’s an interesting way to spend a few extra minutes.
There is a lot of discussion about streamlining relevant search results because people don’t like to waste time searching which I agree with, to a certain extent.? When I’m in a hurry and I know what I need I want it quick and fast – but if I’m researching something or exploring a topic, the search itself is part of the fun.? In this case, I think I’ll find myself returning to search engines that help me categorize, explore and visualize my search results.? Is this the way things are going, or how else might the future of search look like?? What will be the next disruptive innovation in search?
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