Biz Stone Discusses the Evolution of Search Engines at SXSW Interactive 2016

"[Jelly] will give you an opinionated answer. It has it’s own attitude. It’s essentially humanity dressed up as technology." – Biz Stone on Jelly, an app that humanizes the future of search.

Watch Biz Stone—co-founder of Twitter, Medium and Jelly—discuss how search itself is evolving. Stone says that Jelly won’t deliver you back a bunch of results (unlike the way that traditional search engines like Google work), but rather it will deliver you a helpful answer. "We’ll give you a timely answer," Stone says, "but it’s not going to be in .35 seconds. It’s going to be maybe fifteen minutes, but go about your life and we’ll ping you when we’ve got one." Stone says that in 2016, the technology landscape is completely different. Search, he feels, needs a new approach – a reimagined approach. Jelly creates opportunities for this reimagined, "different" type of search. However, Stone is quick to clarify that he isn’t trying to replace Google, mentioning that their brand of search is critically important. Jelly, therefore isn’t a "better" search, it’s simply different.

Stone also spoke about the difficulties with getting users to utilize Jelly as a primary method of search. "It’s going to take a long time," he said. However, future improvements of the product include running Twitter questions through Jelly’s algorithm for answers. Eventually, he hopes that internet users will see Jelly’s helpful answers popping up across the web and therefore proactively check out the service.

Watch the video above for the full session with Biz Stone, moderated by Danny Sullivan, author and founder of Search Engine Land, from Monday, March 14 at SXSW Interactive. Browse more 2016 Keynotes, Featured Sessions, Showcases, Red Carpets, Q&As, and more on our YouTube Channel. Stay tuned to sxsw.com and follow us on Twitter for the latest event recaps and 2017 information.