Is There a Grand Unified Theory of Search?

Search has a dual nature. I know we are entering theoretical grounds here. This isn’t a discussion of the science of SEO. That is too deep a subject and I want to stay near the surface of this argument. I am going to present what I see as the particle like nature of search engines.

How is Search Like a Lightbulb

Actually I am cheating. I don’t want to talk about the lightbulb, but what it emits.

Light

Quantum Mechanics has taught us a lot about the nature of light.

1. It emits particles called photons
2. It also acts as a wave with no photons

These two states seem mutually exclusive and their existence stumped scientists for years. Einstein was the first to describe the dual nature of light and received the Nobel Prize in 1921 for his work. Now we have a new theory called QED that furthers these principles and is way to complicated to go into here. Check out Richard Feynman’s work, “QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter”, for more information. I thought introducing the concept would help you understand my following argument.

Search and Duality

I see that Search has Two Natures:

SEO

SMO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is similar to particle physics. When a post is a published we send out pings (photons) and the search engines see the update. Essentially we are feeding them packets of data that they receive and then interpret with their “eyes”. It is a generalization, but bear with me.

 

Social Media Optimization (SMO) is the wave aspect of light. It is the combination of social signals that are out there. Talking about every Facebook, Twitter, & +1 share. These indicates that a post is “fresh” and/or related to trending news. We know that Google takes into account this information when placing top ranking pages.

 

Here is the thing though; like our physicists friends before us we are still debating which is better. Google hasn’t made it any easier by becoming Google Search + Your World. Now we are forced to understand and generate a theory that combines the two.

 

Is Their A Grand Unified Theory of Search?

Right now we treat each domain separately, but we are beginning to talk about a new entity “social search”.

Social Search

The ideas are still developing, but here are a few articles to get you started.

• The Future of Social Search- Mashable
• Is Social Signaling The End Of Expert Content?- SEO Roundtable
• Has Social Become the New Search?- Forbes

I have also presented my own thoughts on the subject in my Word of Mouth Marketing Series.

Is the Search Solution Crowdsourcing

Quora and other websites are based around the notion of crowdsourcing knowledge. This is similar to how Google Search + Your World uses your social network to prioritize information. Google thinks that your friends know more about what information interests you than a standard query. Theoretically you should be able to find relevant information faster this way.

 

This highlights another enduring argument related to mass media…The Mass is dumb.

 

Since the birth of media there has been a struggle between what is produced for the mass culture and what is considered elite.

 

How do you feel about comic books vs. literature?

 

The differences in opinion can be striking.

 

An interesting read about this is Steven Johnson’s “Everything Bad is Good for You“,which argues that Television is making us smarter. It flips the traditional argument on its head.

 

I want to know what you think. Leave a comment telling me how you feel about social search.

 

Will this make search more relevant? Or will it ruin search forever?