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FTA: "social may pose an existential threat to Google’s style of search" No. Sometimes I want general information: "what is the airspeed of a laden swallow?"

FTA: "social may pose an existential threat to Google’s style of search" No. Sometimes I want general information: "what is the airspeed of a laden swallow?" Sometimes I want information dependent upon the interests of the hundred or so people I know: "what do you all do in Toledo?" Sometimes I want information dependent upon my interests: "if I enjoyed 'Requiem for a Dream', what other movies should I watch?" These things conflict: I could not possibly care less what my friends think is the airspeed of a laden swallow. I use Google for #1, Facebook for #2, and several other sites for #3. Google has (or had) a perfectly viable business providing the best answers to general questions, and it's a shame that they're screwing it up.

antics 13y ago
Hi, I'm the author. Sorry, but you're wrong. Understanding a good amount of detail about your users, and in particular, about their social context, is a massive win for search relevance. Google invested quite a bit in acquiring Aardvark, for example. So, even if you don't ask your friends about something, the information is still really important.
- s3r3nity 13y ago
  This. I think people get caught up too much in the small fraction of queries that are facts of the universe ("What's the universal gravitational constant to 3 decimal places?") versus the much much larger fraction that depends upon much larger contexts ("Movies playing in theaters nearby," or "Rock music," etc.)
s3r3nity 13y ago
"I use Google for #1, Facebook for #2, and several other sites for #3." I think this is the crux of the issue, not that Google thinks social is the end-all answer to everything -- similarly, something like Wolfram Alpha isn't trying to solve the "which restaurant nearby should my friends and I hit tonight?" type of questions. Rather, it's more that Google wants you to be able to approach its products with ANY question or ANY search problem, and it can answer it. Now the problem is whether or not they can pull that off, or you really need independent separate tools/services for each little question to answer.
nl 13y ago
Social Search doesn't mean asking what your friends think an answer is. Instead, it's the most likely approach to questions like "where can I quickly get good pizza?" A question like that uses social search (beyond your friends!) to find people with similar taste to you, find where they eat pizza and to calculate likely travel time from your current location.

antics 13y ago

Hi, I'm the author. Sorry, but you're wrong. Understanding a good amount of detail about your users, and in particular, about their social context, is a massive win for search relevance. Google invested quite a bit in acquiring Aardvark, for example. So, even if you don't ask your friends about something, the information is still really important.

s3r3nity 13y ago
This. I think people get caught up too much in the small fraction of queries that are facts of the universe ("What's the universal gravitational constant to 3 decimal places?") versus the much much larger fraction that depends upon much larger contexts ("Movies playing in theaters nearby," or "Rock music," etc.)

s3r3nity 13y ago

"I use Google for #1, Facebook for #2, and several other sites for #3." I think this is the crux of the issue, not that Google thinks social is the end-all answer to everything -- similarly, something like Wolfram Alpha isn't trying to solve the "which restaurant nearby should my friends and I hit tonight?" type of questions. Rather, it's more that Google wants you to be able to approach its products with ANY question or ANY search problem, and it can answer it. Now the problem is whether or not they can pull that off, or you really need independent separate tools/services for each little question to answer.

nl 13y ago

Social Search doesn't mean asking what your friends think an answer is. Instead, it's the most likely approach to questions like "where can I quickly get good pizza?" A question like that uses social search (beyond your friends!) to find people with similar taste to you, find where they eat pizza and to calculate likely travel time from your current location.