The semantic mechanism for data processing and retrieval is the result of many years of research work in the field of search linguistics. It all started with the fact that the relevant model for assessing the correspondence of data to a search query began to cope with the tasks of finding homonyms, synonyms and ambiguous words.
The mechanism of semantic search, in contrast to the widespread relevant, is able to understand the meaning of user requests and provide answers to complex questions right on the search page. For example, the query “10 richest people in the world” will simply display a list of billionaires. Experts consider this change in data processing technology to be revolutionary. But, on the other hand, the technology has not yet been worked out, the existing projects are somewhat damp, so the algorithms do not function accurately enough.
The semantic search engine will significantly affect the owners of web resources and network users. Taking into account the peculiarities of the new technology, it will not be necessary to follow links to sites to receive an answer to a search query. Obviously, such changes will not please website owners and SEO specialists. In addition, the share of search traffic to sites will seriously decrease, and all this will affect millions of sites.
For a user looking for information on the Internet, the semantic search mechanism may be more convenient than the usual relevant one. However, in order to use the capabilities of semantic search, you need to enter complex questions into the search bar. For example: "Who was the world boxing champion in 2005 and 2006". If you enter a simple phrase into the search bar, semantic search will work in the same way as relevant.
Currently, Internet business sharks have developed and launched several semantic search engines. This is the Freebase Semantic Database, the Powerset thematic structured information database, the new SearchMonkey system from Yahoo! and Hakia. The undoubted market leader is Google.
Initially, semantic search was developed as a technology of the future, hoping that the answers to search queries will be of better quality than the leader Google. But it turned out that this mechanism can only help solve the problems of processing complex and logical queries. Further development of existing systems lies in the area of improving interfaces and achieving new goals.
