Good e-commerce search will eliminate these dreadful scenarios:

1) Irrelevant results – search results are not what the user is looking for

2) Improper synonym recognition (example, “round bar” vs. “rnd”) – you have the product in your inventory, but it won't show up on searches because the user types in a synonym rather than an exact match

3) Bad query completion suggestions – the auto-suggested search terms are irrelevant to what the user is looking for

4) "Your search returns 0 results,” without recommendations for related items or a way to browse for similar products.

Online search technology is barely 20 years old, yet it has profoundly changed how we behave and get things done at work, at home, and increasingly while on the go. It empowers people and organizations in every corner of the world. A world without search technology has become unimaginable—so much so that we take it for granted and underestimate its value. Until now, attempts to indicate the worth of search technologies have relied on statistics such as the trillions of online searches made annually worldwide, the billions of dollars advertisers pay to appear on search pages, or the revenue earned by those that provide search capabilities and search marketing services.

But these measures fail to fully capture the constant creation of economic value that the click of a search button enables through, for example, improved productivity, more transparency in the marketplace, the discovery of new information, and the ability to link up with the right people and companies. Such benefits are usually attributed to the Internet. But search technologies are a vital cornerstone of the Internet edifice.