Web 3.0

What will the Web look like in 10-15 years? I feel that some of the alternate search methods we have looked at this week will definitely become more mainstream. I can see search results becoming more and more visual, as we move into an increasing visual world. Things will be mapped out to make it easier to see relationships. It will also be easier to target exactly the kind of results that you want. We have already seen this early in the semester, with Google replacing less effective search engines with a different formula. Now, some of Google’s experimental search tools help you to target not only the subject you want, but the kind of information you want about it, such as dates, locations, and measurements.

“Web 3.0” is a response to the Web 2.0 (a Web with more user-driven content) that has been in the news lately, but it draws on early predictions. A big part of Web 3.0 is the so-called Semantic Web, which will make it easier to find the information on the Web, by making search tools that read Web pages more like humans do. We will be able to program applications to automatically do search which now take much human effort. As it was originally conceived, it required a change in the format of Web pages, adding metadata for machines to read. This type of redesign is already being used on many sites, but is very labor-intensive. According to a quote in the article: “‘The Semantic Web is a good-news, bad-news thing,’ says R. David Lankes, an associate professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies. ‘You get the ability to do all these very complex queries, but it takes a tremendous amount of time and metadata to make that happen.'”As a result, a newer approach is to build search tools that can more intelligently search Web pages as they already are. Alex Iskold, the CEO of Adaptive Blue, a browser plug-in that retrieves Web pages related to the ones you visit, “Web pages already contain semantic data. We can understand them, so why shouldn’t computers? Why not build a technology that can parse and process existing services and databases?” I feel that a combination of these two approaches is best. We can both make pages easier to read and search tools more capable of reading them. I think that this is definitely the direction the Web will move in.

Another part of Web 3.0 includes better understand of natural language queries. Jeff Bates, co-founder of Slashdot, says, Right now, search engines can’t tell the difference between Paris Hilton and the Hilton in Paris.” I find this to be one of the main problems with search as it stands today. When I search for one thing, I find a lot of other things with similar names, and have trouble narrowing down my search. Other parts of Web 3.0 include 3D search such as Google Earth, and the ability to search for media with other media instead of with keywords. I find this idea really fascinating. There are already early sites that allow you to find pictures with pictures, or music with music, making it easier to find things that would be hard to find with traditional keywords. This kind of search will probably soon become Web-wide, instead of limited the way it is now.

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