Where is Google Search going?  Google recently announced the “Knowledge Graph”.  To fully understand what this means, we need to start at the beginning to see what the benefit will be.

Lance Ulanoff, Mashable‘s chief editor wrote interesting articles about this subject.  So here’s a summary of what has happened so far.

English: This is am image of Kyle David Kipp (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the beginning Google began as a keyword index to search for content.  Then the arrival of links allowed Google to base its search result on content and authority links.  It built a better search result over time by adding a host of signals about content, keywords and through our queries.

The developers realised that stringing different words together changes the meaning.  Something our human brain does naturally, while Google’s brain (Artificial Intelligence) didn’t understand what we wanted.  An example of this is “Lord of the Rings”, it would search for anything that contained “lord” and “ring”.  Google needed to solve this issue.

Google Chrome (Photo credit: thms.nl)

Amit Singhal explains it as building a huge knowledge graph where all these connected entities link to all these attributes.  To build this world they needed to build or tap into these huge knowledge databases.  So, they invested in Freebase, Wikipedia, Google Local, Google Maps and Google Shopping to name a few.  It’s described as building the Star Trek computer.

The United States is using Google Knowledge Graph first, the rest of the world will follow.  Early indications show an increase in search activity.  Here is how it works.

Google Chrome OS on VMWare (Photo credit: berrytokyo)

People using Google will notice that when they type in words in the search field, Google brings up list of suggested topics that you might be searching.  This is due to the fact that Google monitors what you look for on the internet and gives you suggestions based on your habits.  This is why some websites load faster due to your previous visit.

If you search for the term “Andromeda” it will list on the right hand side the galaxy, television show or the band.  If you search for example Leonardo Da Vinci (entity) you’ll get a summary bio of his life, birth and death.  You could get art, inventions, science, renaissance as suggested searches (attributes).

Google Campus 2 (Photo credit: TedsBlog)

What impact will it have on SEO when  Google enforces its stance against poor content and keyword links.  Google’s eventual aim is to allow us to ask things like “what are the seven ancient wonders” and it will list all seven of them in order and which country they are in. You could also ask it “how do I make bread” and it’ll list the ingredients and the method of how to make it.

So where to next?  Several possibilities include Google increasing these knowledge databases.  Eventually, voice activation and Google Translate will play a key role in building the AI.  Also add in Google glasses as a delivery device for this service.  Content information and authority links are vital for Google’s success.  Is this the end for content spinners and sites that contain it?  Will people help build knowledge databases for free like Wikipedia?  What other features will Google add to enhance it?  Do you think we’re heading towards a “1984” or “Star Trek” world?

Related  and Contributing articles

• Google: Search Activity Rising Following Revamp (blogs.wsj.com)
• “Google Knowledge Graph Could Change Search Forever” by Lance Ulanoff
• “Google Search Just Got 1,000 Times Smarter” by Lance Ulanoff