The Future Of Search

[Charles]

With all the talk about Microsoft acquiring Yahoo, Yahoo acquiring somebody else, AOL wanting a piece of Yahoo pie, and Google sniffing the behind it can’t get, you might be wondering what to make of all this noise. I know I am.

There does appear to be some shuffling going on. Just within Yahoo itself, there is some asset maneuvering - acquisitions, resettings, layoffs, etc. Microsoft is looking to make a big move. Some say they will get Yahoo and others say they will by more Facebook. Some say they just want something and will get whatever they want. Meanwhile, Google continues to dominate.

I think the cold, hard truth is the future is hard to predict. Next to impossible. But if I were to gather up the mojo to make a prediction, I’d say the most likely scenario for the future of search is that it will merge with social media.

I know, I know; it sounds crazy. These two worlds - search and social media - seem to be two separate worlds within the universe of cyberspace. You’ll find search kings who hate social media and social media queens who despise search engines. Then there’s the rest of us, trying to make the best of both tools. I think in the long run your big players in both markets will see the potential in combining the two for maximum user experience.

Microsoft already owns a small part of Facebook. Both Google and Yahoo and reaching for their pieces of the social media pie. Yahoo has del.icio.us, but is that enough? Rumors have started about Google and Yahoo wanting Bebo. Google has a deal going with MySpace. It’s just a matter of time before the two worlds merge completely. Then what?

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