Who is really responsible for search results?

According to some experts, web search is still in its infancy, which sounds to me like they`re preparing an excuse, or laying the foundation for one. And in a way they are. Many people complain - loudly and at length - about the inability of search engines to produce accurate and relevant results to search queries. As a result, search engines are working furiously to come up with methods that will make searching more worthwhile for users. We have universal search that combines video, audio, and text data for more holistic results, semantic search to guess the hidden meaning behind search queries, and a variety of innovations by niche search engines that are determined to show that they can get the business done better than Google. And still, users aren`t happy.

Their unhappiness isn`t surprising when you hear that search engines only produce the desired results about 40% of the time. Shashi Seth, the chief revenue officer of Cooliris, a Menlo Park startup, says that this is because guessing what a search query means is still an art. And this is where I start having issues with the argument that search engines need to evolve to meet our increasingly demanding needs.

I am not unhappy with the results that I get from my search queries. Perhaps this is because I tend to hunt deeper into the SERPs than most people, maybe it`s because I type in search phrases longer than the two-word average, or maybe it`s because I know that Google is really just a machine that is incapable of knowing my mind. I figure that if I don`t get the results that I want it`s because I haven`t been specific enough, so I reformulate it until I get what I`m looking for. I never assume that Google (or any other search engine for that matter) is inherently flawed and incapable of meeting my needs. I realise that my query was too vague or ambiguous for pre-programmed algorithms to decipher and I start again. It`s not an inconvenience, it doesn`t take oodles of patience (which is good because I wasn`t born with oodles of patience to spare) and it doesn`t take up much more of my time.

The problem is that we`ve become so spoilt with modern technology that we`re losing the ability to think for ourselves. When we come up against an obstacle we quickly cry foul and point fingers at some of the smartest people on the planet because they can`t make a machine read our minds. Horrors. Imagine having to know your own minds rather than having someone else know it for you? Married couples who have been together for decades might develop the sort of intimacy that enables them to know what their other half is thinking and to anticipate their needs correctly. I don`t know anyone who has that kind of intimacy with their computer (those people may indeed exist, but you also get people who fall in love and have intimate relations with cars).

Why would anyone (in their right minds) possibly expect an algorithm to know what they are thinking? Why would anyone want it? Doesn`t the idea of mind-reading, need-anticipating machines scare anyone else but me? Doesn`t anyone else want to retain a measure of self-responsibility and control over their lives? I say stop complaining about irrelevant results and start thinking about entering queries that are capable of producing the kind of results that you want.