Deeper than the deepest web

I think that the next few years will see a lot of changes in the area of search engines and internet searches. I remember when Google was first introduced, and recall discussing the leap in technology that it represented in terms of finding information. Before Google, most search engines relied on the fact that web pages had to be registered with them before they could regurgitate them as search results. Google introduced what at the time was referred to as "spider-bots", that literally went out and found the information that you were looking for, whether the page had been registered or not. It was an advancement that changed how a lot of people viewed the internet. Of course, the technology has evolved and the world has adapted to it, so that now retailers are tailoring their websites in order to rank higher in the results page of a search.

I think that Google will continue to be the major player in this market. After all, none of the others have been officially entered into the dictionary as a verb. Microsoft recently introduced a new search engine, "Bing", that is pruported to be more intuitive than any of the others. This is noteworthy because now the problem a lot people have is too much information being returned, and then having to weed through the results to find what you are really after. Again, since the majority of retailers have come to understand the power of internet searching, they are striving to have their page be at the top. You might not necessarily be interested in buying a product when you do a search.

Google might not have create a second act, considereing that they have also been one of the most successful at expanding their brand. Yahoo is still known for email, messaging and searches, but they have not moved too far beyond that. But Google has created Google Earth, Android, Latitude, Calendar, Maps, yada, yada, yada. I think as many people go to Google Maps for directions as they do Mapquest, a site that was designed specifically for that purpose.

The "deep web" is becoming more accessible every day, as developers find ways to dig further into the net, based primarily on demand and bandwidth. As it is, a search is likely to find things like message board postings, social networking sites, and other non-commercial web pages that would not have been returned as search results even five years ago.

Intellectual property issues are, and will continue to become, a big issue. All of this technology costs money to create and develop, money that needs to be recouped through sales. A lot of developers have begun using Google Maps on their websites and mobile applications. Google has begun cracking down on the ones that infringe on their business lines. On the other hand, some new legal issues emerged, namely the controversy surrounding the Google Library, where there is a backlash of sorts against the internet giant for making too much available on the internet, effectively squeezing in on the traditional printing media.