You want to build a better search engine?  The answer is simple:  ASK.

Why is that so hard?  I don’t understand myself.  Google is so popular because they built the best algorithm out there.  And it’s smart.  And they can often figure out what you are searching for based on your search query.  But it can’t always.  So they put in billions of dollars and tens of thousands of engineering hours trying to figure out better ways to guess what you are searching for.  Are you looking to buy something?  Are you just looking for information?  Are you looking for a specific website?  Google tries to figure this out based on what you type.  But what you type doesn’t always give that information, and sometimes they get it wrong.  How do you solve this?  You ask the person what they are looking for.

The solution is simple:  Google delivers their same search results based on their best guess.  But they also put in 3 simple links below the search bar asking which of these best fits what you are searching for.  It’s just a simple “Refine your Search”, but it would do wonders.

The next problem is the homonymic nature of our language.  If you type in “bark”, are you talking about a dog or a tree?  If you type “grocery” are you talking about a store or the food in it?  Again, how do you solve this?  Do you guess?  No, you ask!

The solution here:  Again, deliver the normal results, but ask which definition they are looking for.  This already exits, but I haven’t seen it at a search engine.  I’m sure it exists elsewhere, but I’ve only seen it at istockphoto.

Here’s the root of the problem with the current search engines:  They have forgotten that they are part of a communication.  And a communication goes 2 ways.  As it is currently, the searcher types in a question and the search engine gives them an answer.  This is great, except when the correct answer to a question is another question.  Sometimes you need to clarify what the person has asked you.  That’s just common communication.  It’s the decency you’d give to someone who asked you a question in real life, so why is it so taboo in a search engine?

So, I’ll say it again:  If you want to build a better search engine, just ASK.  If you want to build a better search algorithm, teach it to ask smart questions.