Searching Online

1. Practical, useable data is hidden underneath and Google can't always grab it for you. Here is the NYT piece on why that is and what can be done about it.

The challenges that the major search engines face in penetrating this so-called Deep Web go a long way toward explaining why they still can’t provide satisfying answers to questions like “What’s the best fare from New York to London next Thursday?” The answers are readily available — if only the search engines knew how to find them. Now a new breed of technologies is taking shape that will extend the reach of search engines into the Web’s hidden corners. When that happens, it will do more than just improve the quality of search results — it may ultimately reshape the way many companies do business online.

2. A more whimsical take on why we are still under-served by search engines like Google:

“But how do you find stuff you don’t know you are looking for?” asks Ethan Zuckerman.
This koanlike question comes from his work as a fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Mr. Zuckerman spends a lot of time pondering the intricacies of the Internet and how to realign its many moving parts to make the Web more useful.