Future of Search and Context
sari and
Future of Search and Context
this explains why web search in claude/chatGPT feels off
google’s core problem is that it was built to organize a web that no longer exists. the open web has been replaced by walled gardens, discord servers, newsletters, private forums, & algorithmic feeds that are never exposed to search. worse, the visible parts of the web that google still indexes have been overrun by seo-optimized sludge, ai-generate... See more
Via Will Bryk of Exa
Tako
trytako.comneat tool. run a search and get visual / graph visualization responses.
A sense of dread as I see this. We are slowly seeing the end of the open web.
- AI search powered experiences take away clicks from high quality publishers in aggregate +
- Crawlbots from AI companies not playing by the rules
leading to
- High quality publishers are looking to get paid *now* for "the value of their data" to compensate for traffi... See more
on enshittification
Will horizontal search agents eventually starve off their own information supply if they refuse to cut publishers into the economics?
Even if search agents do agree to AI royalties, why should publishers bother making new websites if no one’s ever going to actually see them?
one thing I saw growing up in South London in the 1980s as supermarkets deployed was that small food shops tended to disappear, and then re-appear in new incarnations, providing service, curation and selection that supermarkets themselves couldn't match, for people willing to search them out and of course pay the premium, and where there was the de... See more
ben-evans.com • Lists Are the New Search — Benedict Evans
Revisited: one thing I saw growing up with the Internet as Google grew, was that small lists and directories tended to disappear, and then re-appear in new incarnations, providing service, curation and selection that Google itself couldn't match, for people willing to search them out and of course pay the premium, and where there was enough interest to support this. They didn't scale - they didn't turn into chains of 30 indie directories networks - but they often prospered.
All curation grows until it requires search, and all search grows until it requires curation.
ben-evans.com • Lists Are the New Search — Benedict Evans
The age of directories is upon us.