For many Internet users, Google is synonymous with online search and is seen as the go-to place to get your questions answered. However, Google is still looking for new things to add to its search capabilities, as former CEO and current chairman Eric Schmidt outlined in a speech last week in Berlin where he talked about “innovation, technology, and the future of the Internet.”
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According to Schmidt, Google is “nowhere near close” to solving Internet search, as the company still can’t answer complex queries.
“Try a query like ‘show me flights under €300 for places where it’s hot in December and I can snorkel,’” Schmidt said. “That’s kind of complicated: Google needs to know about flights under €300; hot destinations in winter; and what places are near the water, with cool fish to see. That’s basically three separate searches that have to be cross-referenced to get to the right answer.”
“Sadly, we can’t solve that for you today. But we’re working on it,” the exec assured the audience.
Google Now is one product that can provide more advanced search-based information to users on mobile devices — in some cases even before the user asks for it — after accessing and analyzing data from various Google services used by the user. It looks like this is only the start, however, as the company seems to have even more ambitious plans for the future.