Google’s New Search Index
As we all know, Google is the most popular search engine in existence today. Virtually every single internet session begins with a web search, and Google dominates this market. Recently it was announced that the company is working on a new primary search index for smartphone users. This search index will be entirely separate from the current desktop index that is currently used. And, according to Google’s Gary Illyes, this index will start to be used in the coming months.
This change is significant because it will alter Google’s ranking system for mobile searches. Mobile searches in the future will go through the algorithm in a different fashion across solely mobile content, which is different from method currently used, which extracts data from desktop content to determine mobile rankings.
This is relevant to class because we recently discussed web searches, and how systems go about determining which link has the most value given certain search terms. For example, we discussed link based ranking, along with the page rank system. These methods both rely heavily on the search markets available, and how internet pages interact with each other. By creating a new, entirely separate index, the search market begins to change and Google will be able to shift how mobile searches work in comparison to traditional desktop searches.
http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/social/google-is-working-on-an-improved-search-index-for-mobile-3085655/