The next generation of Web search is coming sooner than expected. In fact, we are already seeing several shifts in the way people search, and the way major search engines provide functionality to consumers.

Whereas Web 1.0 (1989-99) was defined by hierarchical rankings, and Web 2.0 (1999-2009) by social search, as we begin to realize the Semantic Web, the new paradigm of search will shift from the past to the present, and from the social to the personal. Relevancy will not just be defined by keywords and graph algorithms, but by semantic precision.

Why should searches return the same results for everyone? When two different people search for the same information, they may want to get very different kinds of results. Someone who is a novice in a given field may want beginner-level information to rank higher in the results than someone who is an expert. Other use cases may emphasize things that are novel over things that have been seen before, or that have happened in the past — in these instances, the more timely something is, the more relevant it might be as well.

Two themes -- present and personal -- will come to define great search experiences. And although timeliness and relevance are familiar (if nascent) concepts in the context of search today, this talk will focus in particular on exploring some of the new realities and long-term consequences of the decade to come.