As PR professionals, we are always interested in learning about new search tools that will impact the ever-changing digital media landscape. Virtually everyone utilizes search engines for research including journalists and PR professionals. WolframAlpha, which made its debut on May 15, could change how we find information through search engines.
WolframAlpha is a powerful search service that computes answers to questions using data amassed by approximately 100 employees at Wolfram Research. Creator Stephen Wolfram tells The New York Times, that despite online conversations comparing this service to Google, WolframAlpha is “not intended to dethrone the king of search engines.”
Unlike traditional search engines like Google and Yahoo!, WolframAlpha does not search through Web pages to answer queries. It is “knowledge based” and can provide answers to questions like “what is the average body mass index of a 40-year-old male?” or “Is the Eiffel Tower taller than Seattle’s Space Needle?” It will not provide information about upcoming movie times or help with computer or camera shopping. Clearly, there will be a unique opportunity for companies and journalists to leverage this tool to find complex data as well as science and technology based information.
Doug Lenat, an artificial intelligence expert, comments WolframAlpha “may become a massive player alongside Google,” and says it could eventually turn into a favorite destination on the Web.
With the advent of new search tools like WolframAlpha, we wonder how SEO techniques will change. Currently, SEO is important to ensure a Web site is one of the top search engine results to increase Web site traffic.
Companies can optimize articles, press releases, investor information, white papers and third-party content. Companies that optimize relevant content will achieve the following:
Higher rankings in search engine results
Reach target audiences and articulate your key messages more efficiently to these audiences
Increased Web traffic
There has been a lot of discussion on Twitter about Wolfram Alpha. A few themes include:
Five things WolframAlpha does better than Google: complex queries, localization, precision, calculation and comparison.
WoolframAlpha is too complex for simple inquires and data.
It is a revolutionary way to get answers to computational (math, etc) questions.
How do you think WolframAlpha will impact SEO techniques and the way journalists gather information? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
To learn more about SEO, visit our past blog by clicking here.