An extensive writeup in MIT Technology review takes a look at the upgraded search function in Second Life. As it points out, the importance of virtual goods in particular is what makes the ability to narrow results by relevance and in finer detail so essential -- with Second Life's much-touted IP marketplace, where anyone can craft and sell goods, it's a boon to both consumers and sellers that it's apparently now easier to find things.

It's also a sign, perhaps, that the online goods market is expanding in Second Life. Look at it this way -- there are now so many shops, locations, items and events that the search tool needed refinement to aid users in zeroing in on what they want, Google-style. Jeska Dwizalski told the Review that she hopes the specificity in search will also support socialization in Second Life, by helping users to find other people with more specific traits in common, like hobbies or other info.

With some controversy lately about the relatively uncontrolled "wild West" of Second Life, the ability to filter searches to avoid mature content might also be valuable to users and therefore to the platform, which as it expands may suffer a bit of identity crisis as it aims to be many things to many people. From the article:

The algorithm behind the new Second Life search tool will resemble Google's: found objects will be ranked according to how well the data used to describe them match the search terms entered, how close multiple words are to each other, and how popular the objects seem to be, based on the frequency of references to their locations. Like the existing search tool, the new one will allow people to select whether or not they want to include mature content in their searches. The current release, Dzwigalski says, lets Second Life subscribers decide which of their elements they want the search engine to index, so that they will have a chance to determine their desired level of privacy. "The new search tool allows people to search more things and better describe them," she says.

Still, as the article explains, this is not a cure-all for the virtual worlds search idea, which is still far from a perfect science. Michael Rowe, manager of 3-D internet and intraverse research at IBM comments in the article, "Search is important, but I personally don't know of any answer in that space yet. I would say search [in virtual worlds] is going to be pretty exciting as it matures, since you're not only looking for a link: you're looking for a thing within a context of space and time."

[Via MIT Technology Review]