A Parameterless Search Could Be Coming Soon

The future for search means looking at a world in which no parameters exist. Yes, I said it.

Thanks to a really handy, cool guy who loves to read patents, and also happens to love SEO, we've learned of a new Google patent that looks at the feasibility of parameterless search. Really what the patent comes down to is that context is king. 

To even think about search existing without parameters, we have to look at what type of information would need to available. Google would need to understand the context and intent of the information that might be most desirable to the user at that time. To do, it would need to have access to:

• date and time
• location
• calendar
• contacts
• weather
• search history
• apps 
• favorite websites
• high engagement in social media
• the list can go on and on

To retrieve this type of context, Google would have to have access to something very personal to receive the correct data. Enter: mobile device. As referenced in the patent, Google refers to "receiving a parameterless search request, which was provided to a mobile computing device".

As Bill Slawski suggests, here is how a parameterless search may work:

For instance, imagine being driven to work at 50mph, and you shake your phone. It tells you that there's congestion ahead, and offers an alternative route. Or it shows you a map with color-coded traffic information for different streets nearby according to traffic conditions. Or, you may have an appointment with a client made by email and included on your calendar, and you want to find and check the email to make sure that you have the right phone number. It could show the number and offer to make the call on your behalf. If you regularly take a train at around 8:00 am on weekday mornings, shaking your phone at 7:50 am might trigger a realtime schedule for the rails.

It may be mind boggling, but this isn't too far off in the future. From looking at the patent, I think the hardest thing for Google is going to be capturing the ability to measure or determine a user's intent. To do so, Google will need much more information about a user, which beacons privacy issues. Whether or not privacy becomes more of a hot topic, I'm sure Google has already figured out a lot of the dynamics behind a parameterless search since the patent was filled in August 2010.  

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