What is Semantic Search?
Semantic search supplements and advances traditional search queries by utilizing several data points including XML & RDF data, demographic data, geographic information, and more to improve the accuracy of search results by adding layers of keyword context to the search algorithms. Thereby enabling search algorithms to go beyond the current search metrics of keyword-rich content and data, and instead begin to eloquently dissect the meaning of each word in the search query in correlation to the all of the words within the query as well as considering other available data points. This method weighs the relationship of each keyword in the query to each other, delivering a more sophisticated, relevant search result.
If we can truly establish and adopt better semantic standards for the Web, then search will become more accurate and context oriented. However, there is some doubt about whether the W3C framework for semantics will ever be implemented since there is not a clear benefit driving its adoption to the industry drivers.
We will be publishing future articles and blog postings on this in the over the next few months so stay tuned...