If you want insight into Google’s approach to search – at least the stuff it’s willing to share publicly – Marissa Mayer (Google’s VP, search products and Silicon Valley’s Golden Girl) has laid it out on Google’s “Official Blog”.
Her thesis is that:
Today, we have a 90% solution: I could answer all of my unanswered Saturday questions, not ideally or easily, but I could get it done with today’s search tool. (If you’re curious, the answers are below.) However, that remaining 10% of the problem really represents 90% (in fact, more than 90%) of the work.
What’s fascinating is with only 10% still on the table, there’s no lack of entrepreneurs and startups looking to solve that 10%. Whether it’s PowerSet, Cuil, SemantiFind or VideoSurf, the following is abundantly clear:
1. While Google dominates search, its dominance hasn’t killed innovation or the entrepreneur joie de vivre
2. While 10% is small in the scheme of things, Mayer is right that the final 10% is a huge challenge. For example, look at video search. Even though online video has become huge, there’s no one really tackling video search, which is why there’s so much buzz about VideoSurf.
3. Google may have a kick-ass algorithm but it’s not perfect, which provides a huge window for the next Google to emerge. This is why Cuil, Powerset and Semanti are willing to get into the search market because they think they can come up with a better search mousetrap.
4. There are vertical search markets oozing with potential. For example, the online travel market is a $100-billion business with hundreds of players but arguably, there’s no search player dominating the scene. This has created an opportunity for startups such as UpTake to dance where Google can’t or won’t dance.
Another example is the social media market where a search service to find interesting people to friend/follow is wide open for the taking. Think about it, how difficult is it to find new, interesting people to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, Jaiku, LinkedIn, etc. Sure, they make suggestions based on your network but it’s not innovative.
When people think of search, they may immediately think about Google but there’s still plenty of gold in them thar search hills. You just have to be willing to work hard to find it.
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