????Travel and online retailers are ahead of the curve, but others are embracing relevance-powered search. Search engines like Google and Bing are also beginning to adopt the concept -- serving up different results for different people, based on search history and personal preferences. And fast-growing daily deal businesses are working hard to incorporate relevance as consumers increasingly demand platforms that provide appropriate discounts (instead of offering steakhouse coupons to vegetarians). The more contexts that can be built around a user's intent, the more refined the result set can, and will, be.
????But travel is by far one of the best ways to showcase the power and value of relevance.
????Today, travelers spend hours searching dozens of websites for flights and hotels that meet their requirements. It's a major hassle every time they need to travel – especially this time of year, when air fare is so high that consumers will do everything in their power to get the best deal possible.
????The problem faced by most travelers is that a typical flight search will yield 1,000+ nearly indistinguishable and unorganized results. Many business travel platforms – and even some consumer websites – are starting to solve this problem through the use of semantic data, statistical modeling and machine learning. Advanced platforms can quickly scan available data on a user – like the times they can fly, their price range, the in-flight amenities they desire and their preferred airlines – and highlight the best options for each user.
????These tools won't eliminate the tens of thousands of results available to the user, but they will organize and structure them so the most relevant options are presented first. This structuring means that the context of a search can easily be modified whether the user is in a 'budget trip mood' today, or a 'no expense spared mood' tomorrow. Either way, relevance engines can quickly analyze your personal preferences to serve up the best options.
????The desire for relevance-powered search capabilities has been around for some time. Companies and search engines have long been trying to take advantage of the buyer's need for personalized information, and it's finally coming to fruition. In a lot of ways, it's a reaction to how consumer behavior is changing. While the old-school buyer might start the process in the yellow pages, today's digital-aged buyer lives online. They're far less tolerant of unwanted advertisements spamming their inboxes and cold calls during dinner time – and want control over the information they receive, and how they receive it. Tomorrow's buyer will be even more demanding when it comes to relevance and personalization.
