After introductions from MediaPost supremo Ken Fadner and conference MC Aaron Goldman in which they questioned each other's sartorial choices, the MediaPost Search Insider Summit kicked off with
Goldman noting search's dominant position, as reflected in the fact that "search controls the majority of online ad budgets." But with Facebook in the ascendant, and continuing proliferation and
fragmentation of digital media, it's time to ask where the future of search lies. Previously, Goldman noted, most marketers embraced "the idea that search is a magnet for demand initiated by other
channels," but "search has now become a two-way mechanism." At the same time, various key attributes of search are spreading across the Web, including real-time bidding and continuous optimization.
Personally I'm most curious about the mash-up or intersection of search with social media: specifically, how much stock will individuals really place in each other's likes and dislikes?
