What Larry Page thinks about finding

After Google Inside Search last week, Alan Eustace, senior vice president of Google search, told us a little about what CEO Larry Page is thinking about searching.

Here are some long-term goals:

• Answers, not just results. Paige is unhappy that Google provides only a set of scattered links on request, and wants the search engine to provide more organized and consistent results. For example, on the query “what is the best way to create a spacesuit?” Google could display a set of training videos, and then companies that can provide materials, engineering resources, and so on to complete the task.
• Providing the desired results before you start searching. Take as an example a person who suffers from a knee problem and is seeking surgical treatment methods. When he finishes his search, Google can find out that there is a new experimental method that can reduce recovery time by 30% - but the person does not have the opportunity to find out about it until he searches again. Google would like to find a way to provide such information, even when people are not actively looking for it.
• Improved context. Eustace cited the example of a person planning a trip to New York next week and asking a question like “what to do in New York?”. Google should be able to understand the question, provide a list of activities based on known interests, and then remember that you are in New York for a certain period of time on your next search queries.

Eustace also noted that Google still receives more requests from desktops than from mobile devices, and the company even made a bet about when mobile search will overtake the desktop.