I need some ideas

When you hear the term "Search Feature", what's the first thing that pops in your mind?

 

I hate to say it, but Google and movies. I want to come up with something more intelligent, and I am sure others will. This is embarrasing . .

 

I have a hard time coming up with something as well, the only thing I have to go by right now is this page by Google
http://www.google.com/features.html

 

A cool feature would be one which anticipated your search. You launch the search engine and the exact things you need appear on the screen!

There is a guy who claims to have the latest "killer" idea, maybe that is it!

 

Hmm how would I go about doing that?

 

That is what separates really great coders from the rest of the pack!

The dump approach, which would not really work, but which could be made to sound like it does is where the search engine generates a sampling of results based on the type of things you most commonly search for. I thought I heard Google and/or MSN is actually workijng on something along these lines.

 

Oh, so you mean that before you search, there is already a list of sites that are likely to be what you're going to search for based on the history of your searches?

 

Now, I get it. Maybe exploring these random responses to your initial question is a start.

 

My original idea is more like something you would associate with the Matrix. Where the search engine would somehow know what you were going to search for and would inexplicably have the answers.

The second idea, which is more mundane, builds on the notion that search engine results should combine their sense of relevance with your own.

A random search might return results which reflect the current weight of things you searched for and things you clicked on. It would be a random sampling intended to reflect your cuirrent interests . . . almost like a personal newspaper.

A specific search would return results which are biased in favor of the types of sites you have clicked on in the past. For instance, if you tended to ignore forums in favor of other types of sites when responding to search results, the engine would reduce the weighting for results from forums. Its analysis might go deeper, considering your response to the weighting of the words in the summaries accompanying the results, and using that to adjust returns.

This could be a SEO killer! Can you imagine if all the science that goes into getting the best SERPs suddenly has to account for the responses of users. But, perhaps, the Google algortithm already takes this into account across the body of users, not just for each specific user.

 

I love the first idea, but how could the search engine know? Based on the time of day? Based on your pattern of search? I do actually see something there, no matter how far fetched it may sound. I think that the key will be to come up with something that analyzes the user and then go from there ...

 

In a nutshell . . . yes. It needs to consider all those things, including your pattern of responses to search results, news, etc. etc. Crap, you are making me think. This might not be so far fetched. But, boy would you need a database. Any search engine which you are loyal to keeps track of all this data. -- (That is what the foundation of the U.S. Justice Department subpoena on Google.)

 

Well could be good tool...