20 Sep 09 Real-Time vs Delay Tolerant search – I

There is a rush towards real-time search spurred by the likes of Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, Google (Google Wave), Microsoft (through investment in FaceBook) etc. While I can understand why the likes of Thompson-Reuters, AP etc would like to be in real-time search, it is hard to say what the future holds for others. Will our appetite for real-time search take over most parts of our internet search? Am I interested in news about M&A, investments, politics, economics, business, disasters etc in real-time? While I get the news, I am more interested in analysis and so is rest of the population (IMHO). So while the main real-time search contenders cannot gain more than getting us news at the earliest and impact a small part of our appetite for information, they do little to give us insight, informed choice and educate us little about issues we know and understand less.

I am interested in news but more in analysis, I would like to know which bank failed but also why and on deeper analysis of how. I would like to buy a product with a good deal of information about it along with some good analysis but not just be the first to know about it’s release. So while real-time search does well on information now – it is more concerned with news and little else. I would for example want to know what is reason or affects of certain economic, political or social issue which has little to do with real-time search. Also when I look at some real world actions like the best deal for a ticket to NYC . Can I do without going on multiple real-time search (inc Google, Bing etc) and comparison sites for days and get some informed choice? I think there is an opportunity for what I call “Delay Tolerant Search” which in my opinion solves bigger problems and I think we have a great appetite for solutions around this. This holds true for some of our daily actions on the internet and quality of articles – which is why Rupert Murdoch is leading the effort to get people to pay for great content.

Tags: delay tolerant search, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, real-time search, Search, Twitter