Google Enhances Organic Search Semantically

          "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog."
                              ~~Peter Steiner, author, cartoonist and contributor to The New Yorker

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Technology section (today, 3/15/2012), within the next few months, Google will be enhancing its search algorithm and providing more relevant information to organic search results. Semantically, search results issues are due to the arbitrary nature of language/keywords and the barrage of irrelevancy arising from this.

This latest enhancement purports to provide a more humanly-intuitive Web world for searchers including answering questions instead of receiving more links thus avoiding arbitrary irrelevancy … "we cross our fingers and hope there's a Web page out there with the answer," says Mr. Singhal, a top Google search executive (see WSJ article by Amir Efrati). More information can be found online at Wall Street Journal, Google Gives Search a Refresh.

Will this Impact Privacy? According to an earlier WSJ interview back in 2010 with Google CEO, Eric Schmidt on the issue of privacy, "I actually think most people don't want Google to answer their questions, they want Google to tell them what they should be doing next," said Schmidt (WSJ, Google and the Search for the Future, August 14, 2010 by Holman W. Jenkins Jr.) Would this be contradictory? Privacy issues do not matter to Google, but what about the rest of the Web world? Incidentally, Privacy International ranked Google as "Hostile to Privacy", its lowest rating on its report, making Google the only company on the list to receive the lowest ranking.

On a higher note, The Doodle 4 Google 2012 competition is now open to all K-12 students in U.S. schools (including home-schoolers). Completed entry forms must be received by March 23rd, and pre-registration is no longer required! Google is asking students to exercise their creative imaginations in real "Dr. Suessesque style" around the theme, "If I could travel in time, I'd visit…" and I might add "Oh the Places You'll Go..."

The Doodle 4 Google Competition (the “Contest”) is designed to encourage eligible U.S. school students (“Entrant(s)” or “You”) to use their creativity to create their own interpretation of the Google logo. Judges will choose the winning entries, and prizes will be awarded in accordance with these Official Rules (the “Rules”). Spread the news by sharing this Doodle 4 Google 2012 competition link.

This year, The New York Public Library and Crayola are partnering with Google for this year's Doodle 4 Google contest.

The one lucky student artist will see his/her artwork appear on the Google homepage and take home some prizes--and as a special bonus, the winning artwork will appear on a limited edition of Crayola's iconic 64 box!