Someday soon, Google hopes to make the search box obsolete. Searching will happen automatically. "When I walk down the street, I want my smartphone to be doing searches constantly-'did you know?' 'did you know?' 'did you know?' 'did you know?' In other words, your phone should figure out what you would like to be searching for before you do," says Google CEO Eric Schmidt. This vision is well on the way to being realized. In 2009, Google began customizing its search results for all users. If you tend to use Google from a home or work computer or a smartphone-i.e., an IP address that can be traced back to a single user (you)-the search results you see incorporate data about what the system has learned about you and your preferences. The Google algorithm of 2011 not only answers questions, but it also seeks to divine your intent in asking and give results based, in part, on how it perceives you.
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