HubSpot's Inbound Internet Marketing Blog

Interview with John Battelle on the Future of Search

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John Battelle, founder of Wired magazine, The Industry Standard and Federated Media Publishing, recently sat down for a conversation with HubSpot CEO Brian Halligan. During the interview, Brian picked John's brain about Google, social media and how these two media coexist and compete.

John is also the author of The Search and was a featured speaker at the Inbound Marketing Summit in San Francisco.

1) What is the Future of Search?

Search is currently an interface for working with machines. As we learn new ways to interact with information, it will stop looking like a list of links and will start feeling more like a conversation. Soon we won't need to train ourselves how to search for the results that we want. Instead, searching for information will seem no different from the way we already think. 

2) How Can Small Businesses Create Competitive Advantages?

There is a strong opportunity to be a first-mover in your market. Take advantage of the tools you alredy have, including your relationships with your customers. Use social media to engage with them, show them you understand, and stand out from the pack.

3) Are Facebook and Twitter Search a Threat to Google?

Search in social media platforms is a threat to Google. While AdWords is a profitable business, search in Facebook and Twitter is a diferent beast that requires a new approach. To compete, Google is trying to bring human beings into their search equations in a way that relates to a social graph.

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Posted by Rebecca Corliss on Tue, May 12, 2009 @ 05:07 AM