The Hummingbird

What is the Hummingbird? For those of you who are unaware, Google has recently updated their search engine, in what is supposed to be the ‘biggest’ update since 2001. Alex Morrison from 6S Marketing, states that the idea is to move the algorithm away from keyword matching; and towards contextual matching. Furthermore Amy Gesunhues explains that the algorithm update has two advances; firstly allowing the ability to deal with more complex questions; and secondly the search engine has become more ‘rational thinking’, in basic terms Google is thinking more like a human brain. In a way, when it is put into perspective, it can sound quite daunting.

Danny Sullivan demonstrates an example of the ‘conversational update’, by asking Google ‘how old is Barack Obama?’, in which Google replies with the fact at the top of the page; he then asks ‘how tall is he?’, not using Obama’s name in the second question, Google replies with the answer. This is an excellent demonstration of how Google has utilized rational thinking in a conversational form; one like two people would have face to face. Although is it starting to sound a bit like the development of the terminator..? Of course these updates assist consumers’ and business’ in everyday life; but have we reached the point of no return? Many generation Y’s, like myself, probably have reached the point of no return, a life without Google, I definitely couldn’t imagine.

Of course I am highly impressed with Google as a search engine, for instance little did I know the Hummingbird update had occurred about a month ago. To the untrained eye, I was already accustomed to the new updates such as photo’s in the search feed of fellow bloggers or that Google had improved answers to those absurd questions that I can’t answer. When friends ask me questions I can’t answer, I simply reply with ‘Google it’. To what extent are we becoming too reliant on search engine’s to form conclusions for us? Share your perspective..