Last month, Google conducted a study to find out what sort of things people want to know, but never search for. One of the participants in Google's Daily Information Needs study was MIT Technology Review editor Tom Simonite, who shed some light on how the search giant's methods are continuing to evolve. Simonite was contacted eight times per day over the course of three days, and told Google about the things he wanted to know — how long the line is at the grocery store, or questions that arose while he was too immersed in a novel to bother looking up.

Lead user experience designer for Google Search Jon Wiley said "the perfect search engine will provide you with exactly what you need to know at exactly the right moment, potentially without you having to ask for it." With services like Google Now that capitalize on information from now-ubiquitous mobile devices, this is exactly the direction that Google is moving in — information at your fingertips without even having to ask. Wiley added that Google is not ready to release information on the Daily Information Needs Study, but other similar studies will likely follow.