Google want search to answer life's questions

Friendly big brother

24 May 2007 12:35 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Google has outlined its vision for the future of search at a conference in London.

The internet giant has said that its ultimate goal is to create the most comprehensive database of personal information ever assembled, not so Big Brother can track our every move, but so you will be able to ask it what you should be doing tomorrow.

The company's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, said "The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask the question such as 'What shall I do tomorrow?' and 'What job shall I take?'."

Speaking at a conference organised by Google, he said: "We are very early in the total information we have within Google. The algorithms will get better and we will get better at personalisation".

The announcement comes on the back of an investment in a company set up by Sergey Brin's wife that lets users trawl their genetic profile online.

Google has invested $3.9 million in 23andMe.

The site encourages individuals to learn about their own genetic information, 23andMe to create an “open resource” that can help to accelerate drug discovery and bring about a revolution in personalised medicine.

However many commentators are already starting to question that in the wrong hands the information could be used against people.

The independent Newspaper in London has raised concerns that with the cookies used by DoubleClick (recently purchased by Google) to track advertising, the data could be used to specifically see where, why and what people do on the Internet.

Full tags

Software, Online, Search engines, Google