Semantic web 'could transform ads'

20th August 2008

The paid search sector could be significantly affected by developments in the world of semantic search, an expert has said.

Speaking at the San Jose the Search Engine Strategies conference this week, Powerset's Scott Provost suggested that search results focusing on the intent behind queries could see the way in which paid search works change, CNET News.com reported.

Powerset, a semantic search engine that recently developed a service for use with Wikipedia, was acquired by Microsoft earlier this year.

Mr Provost said: "If people aren't bidding on keywords and are bidding on concepts, it could completely change the ball game."

At the same event, Satya Nadella of Microsoft stressed the importance of innovations like semantic search to boosting the relevance of search engine results, according to CNET News.com.

He noted that offering listings that are more tailored to each user's needs could do much to help the company develop its search services.