Google has bought an Israeli student’s new search technology that could revolutionize the way people search. The news emerged from Australia yesterday that Google had beaten Microsoft and Yahoo in snapping up the new algorithm invented by doctoral student Ori Allon. The search giant hasn’t commented on this story, but The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Allon has been working at Google’s California headquarters since leaving UNSW, the University of New South Wales. The paper also reports that Allon had negotiated with Google, Microsoft and Yahoo to sell the technology.

The algorithm, or set of logical rules used by search engines to decide relevant results, is called Orion after the 26-year-old who pioneered it alongside UNSW supervisor Dr Eric Martin.

Orion will make searches much less time-consuming, by working with existing engines and expanding their functions, the developers claim.

Instead of finding pages by searching for keywords deliberately embedded in each site, Orion will provide expanded text extracts which will eradicate the need to open every link.

Dr Martin, whose comments are featured in a number of reports, claims the search engine tool would make internet surfing “much easier, and much less frustrating”.

“You won’t have to click and see if what you’re after is in this webpage, and go back and forth again and again,” he said. “This will give the information directly and immediately. It will be a great time-saver for users.”

Because this invention essentially speeds up internet searches it should be worth millions — if not tens of millions. Allon invented the algorithm while studying at the university so the institution will retain partial ownership.

Neither Google nor the Orion developers have commented on the value of the deal but a quote from the Massachusetts-based newspaper The Republican on the value of ideas seems apt: “Society is paying people more for their brains than for their brawn. The nerds and the wimps and the geeks are ruling the world,” said Ohio University professor Richard Vedder.

Certainly this is not the first time a student has made a significant impact on the tech industry. In 1999, Irish 15-year-old Sarah Flannery won the Esat Young Scientist of the year title and featured on newspapers across the world for her project on encryption algorithms. The girl from Blarney, Cork is now studying at Cambridge and already two books have been written about her.

via electricnews