Semantics focuses on how words and sentences convey meaning. But treating queries as static strings often fails in practice. Pragmatics introduces an additional dimension: it asks why a query was made, what assumptions the user and system share, and whether ...
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Contextual Word Embeddings vs. Static Embeddings
The journey of word embeddings reflects the evolution of search itself — from static representations where each word had one fixed meaning, to contextual embeddings where words adapt dynamically to their usage. Static embeddings like Word2Vec and GloVe powered early ...
Semantic Role Theory vs. Frame Semantics
What is Semantic Role Theory? Semantic Role Theory provides a predicate-centered model of meaning. Each verb (or predicate) is linked to roles such as Agent, Patient, Experiencer, or Instrument. For example: “Ali [Agent] kicked the ball [Patient] with his foot ...
Dense vs. Sparse Retrieval Models
Search quality improved dramatically once we stopped treating retrieval as simple keyword lookup and started modeling meaning. Today, teams face a core choice: rely on sparse retrieval (term-based signals), dense retrieval (embedding-based similarity), or combine both. Each method optimizes a ...
Vector Databases & Semantic Indexing
Search is shifting from keyword grids to meaning-first retrieval. Instead of relying solely on inverted indexes, modern engines store high-dimensional vectors and retrieve by neighborhood in embedding space. This move is what powers RAG, conversational search, and intent-aware recommendations — ...
What is Re-ranking?
First-stage retrieval optimizes coverage; re-ranking optimizes precision at the top. By scoring each (query, document) pair with richer semantics, a re-ranker aligns the list with real user intent rather than surface word overlap. This is exactly how we translate query ...
What is BM25 and Probabilistic IR?
Classic keyword search asked “Which documents contain the terms?” Probabilistic IR reframes the question: “Given a query, what is the probability this document is relevant?” This shift justifies weighting schemes that balance rarity (IDF), diminishing returns on repeated terms (TF ...
Query Expansion vs. Query Augmentation
Understanding how search engines process and enrich user queries is central to semantic SEO and modern information retrieval. Two concepts—query expansion and query augmentation—often appear side by side, but they operate at different levels of sophistication. What is Query Expansion? ...
What are Entity Salience & Entity Importance?
Search engines have shifted from keyword-based indexing to entity-oriented retrieval, where understanding which entities matter most in a document or a domain is key. Two concepts drive this process: Entity salience: the measure of how central an entity is to ...
Schema.org & Structured Data for Entities
In the era of entity-oriented search, Schema.org structured data is no longer optional — it is essential for helping search engines understand the meaning of entities on your site. Search crawlers rely not only on unstructured content but also on ...