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If you've been frequenting the Yahoo! Search Blog, you've certainly read about our initiatives for a more open ecosystem. Complimentary to that, we've discussed semantic web standards and how Yahoo! Search is supporting this technology. Just last week, Yahoo!'s Peter Mika dug a little deeper into the semantic web and explored how it's helping to shape the next generation of search -- transitioning from syntactical search to semantic search.

The article first looks at the current limitations in a syntax-based search engine before paving the way for semantic search. Peter outlines the two roads to achieving semantic search as Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology and semantic web technology and highlights the common denominator in both as access to metadata. The fundamental difference is the way in which content is obtained -- implicit metadata extracted from text (NLP) versus explicit metadata provided by publishers (semantic web). Sharing his view on the similarities, Peter suggests the best way to get to semantic search is a blended approach using both NLP and semantic web.

And, as an integral member of the Yahoo! SearchMonkey team, Peter refers to the benefits that SearchMonkey is experiencing with the semantic web and calls out the opportunities to integrate with both NLP and semantic web technologies.

It's an interesting read, so take a look. If you have any questions for Peter, feel free to drop them in the comments below.

Yahoo! Search Blog team