Predictions for the next decade of search

Although to many Google is now integrally linked in people's minds to the internet, one commentator has asked if it will be able to stay on top for the next ten years.

Greg Sterling, in a post for Search Engine Land, says the rise of mobile search plus developments in cloud technology could lead to Google losing its leading position.

However, he adds that it is practically impossible to imagine what the future of search will be.

In this year's Google's founders' letter, Sergey Brin, co-founder and president of technology at the search engine, said: "I think it will soon be possible to have a search engine that understands more of the queries and documents than we do today."

He adds that Google has "more smarts behind the curtains than may be apparent".

Mr Sterling suggests that these comments may refer to the new search facility Wolfram Alpha.

The new search engine is claimed to be able to provide an answer to specific questions put to it, rather than returning a list of related links.

It will go live later this month.

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