Warning: The future of search is going to get very personal. Hold on to your tin foil hats.

Let’s begin with a brief history of the search and knowledge discovery field.

Search + Analytics

In 1997, Google launched the Google.com search engine.  4.3 seconds later, Google started looking at everyone’s search queries.  Just kidding.  Sort of.  Search and analytics have been tied at the hip since the very beginning.  Companies learned that what people are searching for is useful and valuable information.  Analytics can be used to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of a search solution, and they can be used to improve it going forward.  By looking at what people are searching for and how they are interacting with the search results, the experience can be continuously modified to yield the best results.