Query understanding matters more than ranking

Today’s daily search tip comes from friend-of-the-newsletter Daniel Tunkelang.

From the talk: Query understanding matters more than ranking​

Great search reflects the user’s intent back to them. It shows users through UX why results were included. It says “we get you”.

Break this down by entities the user mentions (color of product, news topic, celebrity, movie name…?). But just as important: what the user doesn’t mention! diversify across what’s missing. The user enters red shoes into the search bar, show them athletic shoes, dress shoes, and hiking boots.

Now the user knows you understand them. But they have more options to explore. In this framework, maybe what we really should do is prioritize:

Query Understanding → Diversity → Ranking

Does ranking actually come last?

-Doug

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