Enterprise Search: How do we get there from here?

transcript

Daniel Tunkelang Head of Query Understanding, LinkedIn

THERE The Dream (Franz Marc, 1912)

“Computer, what is the nature of the universe?”

"a web of data that can be processed by machines"

Mind reading is now possible!

HERE Office Space (1999)

Google VP Udi Manber on their in-‐house search: “It’s not that good.”

Beyond 10 blue links? Not so much.

Meta-‐utopia or Metacrap?

Cory Doctorow’s seven straw-‐men of meta-‐utopia: 1.   People lie. 2.   People are lazy. 3.   People are stupid. 4.   Mission: Impossible -‐-‐ know thyself. 5.   Schemas aren't neutral. 6.   Metrics influence results. 7.   There's more than one way to describe something.

So how do we get there from here?

Three Baby Steps on the Path to Utopia

1.   Exercise common sense.

2.   Show some humility.

3.   If all else fails, cheat.

Remember what the Dormouse said: Feed your head.

From 2012 Google Zeitgeist

Monitor your top queries. Nail them.

for i in [1..n]! s ← w1 w2 … wi! if Pc(s) > 0! a ← new Segment()! a.segs ← {s}! a.prob ← Pc(s)! B[i] ← {a}! for j in [1..i-1]! for b in B[j]! s ← wj wj+1 … wi! if Pc(s) > 0! a ← new Segment()! a.segs ← b.segs U {s}! a.prob ← b.prob * Pc(s)! B[i] ← B[i] U {a}! sort B[i] by prob! truncate B[i] to size k!

Long tail? Structure and segment your queries.

Eneees and categories are your friends.

Even the eneees for which you have no results.

Idenefy unsuccessful searches.

Use analyecs to drive triage.

“Sorry, no results containing all your search terms were found.”

Analyzed representaDve random sample of name searches. Leading causes: 1)  Misspelled names. 2)  Correctly spelled name of someone not on site.

Combine automated analysis with human judgment.

Triage drives and validates agile development.

Misspelled name?

Correctly spelled name of someone not on site?

You just ask them?

Recognize ambiguity and ask for clarificaeon.

Clarify, then refine.

Computers Books

It’s 2013. Please use faceted search.

Make your best guess, but hedge your bets.

Claudia Hauff, Query Difficulty for Digital Libraries [2009]

Not all queries are created equal in difficulty.

“It's ok to cheat, as long as you cheat your way to the top."

Design an experience that doesn’t require search.

Crowd-‐source curaeon.

Unstructured data? Beg, borrow, or steal.

Solve an easier problem: re-‐finding.

Invest in type-‐ahead, especially instant results.

“Good arests copy. Great arests steal.” -‐-‐ Picasso / Jobs

Three Baby Steps on the Path to Utopia

1.   Exercise common sense.

2.   Show some humility.

3.   If all else fails, cheat.

It’s the economy, stupid!

Warning: technology alone is not a solueon.

The future is on the way.

But the present doesn’t have to be so bad.

Email: dtunkelang@linkedin.com

Connect: hmp://linkedin.com/in/dtunkelang

Enterprise Search: How do we get there from here?

Technology