In 2009, Bill Gates gave a speech at a private dinner where he famously said “the future of search is verbs.” Gates wasn’t talking about the words people type into search boxes, he was instead talking about why people search. Before we can understand why search is important, we need to take a step back and understand why people search. Why People Search In the early days, people searched to find a list of documents that contained the words they typed in. That’s no longer the case. Today’s searchers search to solve problems, to accomplish tasks, and to “do” something. They might be searching to book a flight, buy something, learn the latest Taylor Swift lyrics, or browse cat photos – but these are all actions. Or, as Gates referred to them, verbs. When a user starts a search, they’re really starting a journey. Marketers love to talk about something called “the consumer journey.” It’s just a fancy way of referencing a user’s path from the inception of their task to the completion – and