Along with taking into account intended meanings of search terms, Google beefed up results pages with longer snippets in summary paragraphs focused on what people appear to be seeking.<\/p>\n
"We’re deploying a new technology that can better understand associations and concepts related to your search," Google search quality team technical lead Ori Allon and snippets team engineer Ken Wilder wrote in a blog post.<\/p>\n
"We are now able to target more queries, more languages, and make our suggestions more relevant to what you actually need to know."<\/p>\n
Internet search services have traditionally been based on matching key words typed into query boxes with words at websites or in other online data.<\/p>\n
There has been growing interest in "semantic searches" that are smart enough to go beyond simply matching words to understanding what sentences or combinations of words mean.<\/p>\n
A longstanding concern has been whether companies will be able to implement technology that can process the increasingly complex searches with the high speed that Internet users have come to expect.<\/p>\n
Microsoft recently confirmed it is testing a Kumo.com semantic search engine it hopes will be more popular than its Live Search service that has long been mired in a distant third place behind Yahoo! and market leader Google.<\/p>\n
Google on Tuesday rolled out semantic search capabilities in 37 languages.<\/p>\n
Examples given by Wilder and Allon included a search in Russian for "fortune-telling with cards" yielding search results that included "tarot" and "divination."<\/p>\n
A Google search in English for "principles of physics" triggers suggestions to inquire about "big bang" and "quantum mechanics."<\/p>\n