Web 3.0 is the name that has been given to the next generation web. While not everybody agrees with the designations, web 1.0 was the first generation web where everything was flat web sites. With Web 1.0 we browsed website to see what other people wanted us to tell us.
We are now in Web 2.0 where users can interactively create content. Instead of just looking at web sites users now interact and create content on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. YouTube has so much user generated content that it is one of the biggest traffic generators on the web. And web sites are no longer static and users can post our opinions on a newspaper article or create funny reviews on an Amazon product.
Web 3.0 is expected to go a step further and personalize the web experience. It is expected users will have a personal assistant that will learn their preferences and help them navigate the web. Apple’s Siri is one of the first generation of this type of assistant, but they are expected to soon advance far past Siri.
The biggest improvement of Web 3.0 is that it will understand context, which is lacking in Siri and today’s search engines like Google. But in the future if you tell your assistant that you want to buy a mouse, it will know from the context if you mean the computer device or the little furry animal. The real advantage of the ability to understand context is that search engines will get smarter and will bring you facts. Today the web searches on key words and brings you every web site that contains one of your search words. But in Web 3.0 it is expected that you can ask a question like, “What year was Abraham Lincoln elected?” and get the answer instead of a bunch of web sites about Lincoln, Nebraska.
A personal assistant will also make life easier. For instance, you can tell your assistant that you want to meet a friend for a birthday lunch and also buy them a present. You assistant will talk to your friend’s assistant behind the scene and find a restaurant that is convenient for both of you and that you both will like. And it will suggest presents to you, and once you choose one will buy it for you, have it gift wrapped and delivered to the restaurant. And all of this happens behind the scene with an assistant that understands context.
There will be more to Web 3.0 than just the personal assistant. As more brains get built into the web the way we use it can be smarter as well. As an example, Google just patented something they call geolocation technology. This, and tools like it are going to bring some aspects of artificial intelligence to your personal assistant. For example, with geolocation, advertisers will be able to make offers to you (really to your assistant) that are dependent upon your location. They might offer you a special on a meal, a drink or a purchase that is a few stores in front of you as you walk down the street. But your assistant will learn to filter such requests and will only bring to your attention the ones that are going to be of interest to you.
The personalized web is going to transform the web experience. You will finally be able to use the web to find the facts you want instantly. You will be able to use the web as your social secretary, or as your to-do list or in any other manner of your choosing.