“Semantic Web†is the technology that brings up results based on an understanding of a word's meaning and the context of its use. That's in contrast to the method used by the major search engines, which work primarily by matching words in queries to those on Web pages. http://www.powerset.com is the company who works on Semantic Web technology and Microsoft has shown interest to go for it (as they didn’t get Yahoo or it’s still uncertain). The interesting thing is that several search engines have expressed interest in the powerset. If the deal were to go through, Microsoft could get a big leg up in efforts to catch Google. http://yourmighty.blogspot.com/2008/07/fight-for-searchmicrosoftgoogleyahoo.html Latest buzz is that Microsoft will acquire Powerset. Source: http://www.powerset.com/blog/articles/2008/07/01/microsoft-to-acquire-powerset Thanks Abhijith