Future of search rides on relevance

[scuzzman]

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Search engine providers are working to catalogue every corner of the Web, but what they really want is to get a better idea of what's going on in your mind.

A panel of industry executives gathered to speak at the Harvard Business School's ongoing Cyberposium conference here Saturday roundly endorsed the idea that making search tools more relevant in customers' lives will be the most important factor in driving their companies' success.

Original story here.

The reason I find this article so interesting is this statement, which worries me a little:

Bradley Horowitz, director of media search at Yahoo, said that his company's portal approach, in which it offers an array of personal services such as Web-based e-mail and shopping in addition to search capabilities, is helping to convince customers that they can help shape new offerings.

"The user is expanding the amount of personal data they share with us in the form of their address books, e-mail accounts, or their shopping habits," Horowitz said. "By gathering this information we already have and studying that behavior, we can see a significant opportunity to apply the existing user relationship into new tools."

[Zfactor]

I guess the only substitution that these CEOs have for learning to perform proper searches is to let them find out everything about us. I am sure they would NEVER sell this information to the highest bidder either :rolleyes:

[scuzzman]

Of course not! Why, how could you even think someone could do something like that :rolleyes: