The Far Side of Search

8 billion pages. This is the result Google is so proud of, and even if Yahoo doesn't say just how many pages it indexes, it is very likely that their number is about the same.

Have we reached the end of the Web? Have Yahoo and Google indexed everything that there was to be indexed? Probably, considering the interest the search engines seem to have in what I would call "alternative searches". Up until now, we were accustomed that the image of a search engine, either Google, Yahoo or MSN, would be that of a website, accessible only by means of a PC, Mac or other computing device.

But as the PCs become obsolete, we'll have to change our opinion regarding the concept of search engine. The cell phone, the device that has radically changed our lives, is beginning to change the way we search the web as well.

The fact that Yahoo has launched Yahoo SMS Search means that now what we're interested in is not just a click away, but just a SMS away. If the web is over and done with, this means that we have to move on towards other areas, probably said to themselves the people in charge of our daily search.

Unlike Google and MSN, Yahoo is yet to launch a desktop search feature, but it's very likely that we won't have to wait too long for it, and in that moment, the circle will be complete. We'll be able to search on the web, on the desktop, in the phone's memory, by using a PC, smartphone or whatever other device we want.

I do believe that soon we'll be put in the position of sharing a part of our hard disk or of our cell phone's memory, and let the search engines index whatever we might want to share with the rest of the world. And even then, we'll probably want to search some more. In any case, something is certain: the search trend will never be over, so if you want to place your money in a safe venture, invest in a search engine. You won't loose a cent!