Google Brain: the future of search and e-Commerce?
Semantic algorithms are at dawn, and will revolutionize the way we, human beings, browse the web, and organize information. Type in the Google search bar a question like “who is the President of the United States of America?”, and you get the right answer on top. Few search engines provide such a feature. This however only works with sort of dumb questions, but many research centers and companies have actually been investigating thoroughly into semantics to help democratize the technology. One may imagine all the potential applications of smart answers given by search engines.
The Google Brain below is a mock-app that used to buzz on YouTube about 6 months. I had bookmarked it and forgot it. Have a look at how search engines will combine computerized Yahoo! Answers and Kelkoo-like price comparison functions in a near (?) future. Btw, one may get an insight of how a company like Google will extend its cash generation streams: on top of online advertising, Google is likely to take a commission based on the sales generated by its semantic search engine.
Last thing: it might be Google who implements semantic algorithmics first, or not. There is still room in the search engine industry for a disruptive new entrant. Low switching barrier and cost from one search tool to another is Google’s Achille’s heel in my humble opinion.
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=QKRSViYBkso&mode=related&search=]
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Hello Jerem,
your posts on google illustrates how the internet (ie. the different actors on the Internet scenes) are more and more able to re-create the experience of a genuine human interaction. This is true when we take the exemple of google’s search engine but it is also true when we look at e-commerce: while the US version of ikea.com proposes a digital (and, by the way, sexy) saleswoman, Amazon is able to draw your main interests from your page visits (as a human seller would do by asking you question). The internet allows therefore every day more intuitive interactions; and I think it’s just the beginning. I am a real internet enthousiast but the question is now: is Internet copying the real-world interactions or, reversly, determining the way we interact in the real world? I left the question up for discussion…
Hey Jedi,
I didn’t know a hot girl was taking care of you on the US website of Ikea. I’ll check it out later but thanks for the tip
On the issue you’re raising: as far as I’m concerned, there’s no doubt that the Internet reproduces the way we interact in the real world. The converse statement would be false, although of course the Internet produces some ‘noise’ that modifies our behaviours a little bit.
Let’s take the same example as you: e-Commerce. Why do you think Ikea put a human being saleswoman instead of a robot? Because it sounds genuine! The most successful e-Commerce websites are those who reproduce reality best and improve purchasing experience efficiency (through recommendations and execution velocity for instance).
Hey,
Jedi, do you mean “Anna, the Automated Online Assistant”? You’ve got some weird tastes my friend.
I may see your point when you say Internet influences how we interact in the real world: faster exchanges, quicker contact-making, straight-forward discussions, the usual yada-yada of socializing has lost some of what it used to be. (is this -at least part of- what you meant?) BUT I think forcing a causality to 2 correlated phenomena would be a little far-fetched, as this tendency to rush everything in our lives has been getting more and more important throughout the 20th century, internet being there or not. Now what could be common cause (if any)? Also an open question…
Yep, I don’t find Anna so appealing either.
Any how…I have no ready-to-digest answer to your question Emmanuel.
I’ve thought about it, but I really think it’s the real world that shapes the way human communications are handled over the Internet, and conversely that the Internet influencing real life interactions is a correlated less significant sort of ‘noise’.