The search renaissance is here (but the present is still medieval)

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2024-05-13 12:30:17

Google, the second most beloved brand in America, and the face not only of search but to a degree, all of the Internet, is looking more vulnerable than ever. Consumers are increasingly unhappy and tech industry leaders are increasingly agreeing – and funding alternatives.

Search has become a hot topic. ML-powered search is pointing the way toward significantly more powerful search engines. Meanwhile, AI-based chat tools like ChatGPT (and even with recent hamstringing, Bing) present an orthogonal challenge, a search experience that resembles question and answer.

And though Google faces the brunt of these challenges, search technologies of all kinds face them too. Search, often under-prioritized and suffering from backlogged improvements, is now receiving renewed attention. The question for developers is how best to use this attention and how to actually create the best search experience for their organizations and their users.

Our humble suggestion is this: Even though the attention is partially the result of new, cutting-edge technologies, the most effective improvements actually lie with more foundational design decisions. Even if your primary goal is to pursue the potential of AI and ML, the best path toward the future is through the present.