We don't need natural language in our searches

You've probably heard of it... it's the old utopia of search engines, the one true messiah that will deliver us all from the hands of the Google empire: the natural language search engine.

Normally, I'm willing to embrace any sort of goofy web innovation… I enjoy them, in fact; this idea, however, I've never been able to swallow.

I think Darwin had a point. I, for one, see natural selection at work on the internet every day, and I believe it can be applied to people using a search engine. It goes like this: If you're incapable of learning how to properly Google something, then maybe the internet is not for you.

Simple, but true as can be. If you use Google Analytics you'll understand what I'm talking about: I have seen searches like "I want mp3 music for my wedding reception" and "Find me donut shops near my home". I mean, come on... googling something is not precisely difficult... oh, and forget about + - "" site: etc. I consider myself fairly competent at finding things on the web, and I never use any of those things. My searching philosophy is pretty straightforward: If I want to find out what a red herring is, I type red herring. Search. If I want to find a restaurant in downtown Helsinki I type restaurants helsinki. Search. Chances are Yahoo travel or another website of that sort will answer the call, offering me maps, reviews, and dozens of search refinement possibilities. So, to me (and I'm guessing to millions of other people), natural language searches are rather pointless.

Last year, I wrote a thesis. Due to the lack of related work in the libraries, I tried the internet. Ever tried to google academic papers that may be used as reference in a research about the influence of plastic minimalism in the work of film directors Abbas Kiarostami and Kim Ki-Duk? I did. And guess what? I found enough. It took me a week, but I did, and without the help of a natural language search engine. Furthermore, I'm sure such a search engine couldn’t have helped me find it faster.

How about "natural language C++"or "natural language Javascript"? Now that would be helpful.