{
  "altLabels": [
    "Web Retrieval"
  ],
  "definition": "A search task or system setting focused on retrieving and ranking information from web-scale or web-like collections for user queries.",
  "derivedRelations": [
    {
      "note": "Web search is a search task or system setting; a web browsing agent is an agent that can use web search and browsing actions.",
      "target": "web-browsing-agent",
      "type": "notEquivalentTo"
    },
    {
      "note": "Web browsing agent evaluation evaluates agent behavior across search and browsing actions; web search is a search task or system setting.",
      "target": "web-browsing-agent-evaluation",
      "type": "notEquivalentTo"
    },
    {
      "target": "browsecomp",
      "type": "related"
    },
    {
      "target": "web-browsing-agent",
      "type": "related"
    },
    {
      "target": "web-browsing-agent-evaluation",
      "type": "related"
    }
  ],
  "distinctions": [
    {
      "reason": "Web search is a search setting and task family; semantic search is a broad approach or capability focused on meaning-based matching.",
      "statement": "Web Search is not Semantic Search.",
      "target": "semantic-search",
      "targetLabel": "Semantic Search",
      "targetUri": "https://id.searchplex.net/semantic-search/"
    },
    {
      "reason": "Web search is the task or system setting; a SERP is the presented search-results page.",
      "statement": "Web Search is not SERP.",
      "target": "serp",
      "targetLabel": "SERP",
      "targetUri": "https://id.searchplex.net/serp/"
    },
    {
      "reason": "Web search can use many retrieval and ranking methods; vector search is one class of vector-based retrieval mechanism.",
      "statement": "Web Search is not Vector Search.",
      "target": "vector-search",
      "targetLabel": "Vector Search",
      "targetUri": "https://id.searchplex.net/vector-search/"
    }
  ],
  "id": "web-search",
  "kind": "Task",
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/",
  "links": [
    {
      "label": "TREC 2013 Web Track Overview",
      "type": "definingReference",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/1401.6501"
    }
  ],
  "modifiedAt": "2026-09-14T06:43:46Z",
  "prefLabel": "Web Search",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "Searchplex",
    "url": "https://searchplex.net/"
  },
  "relations": [
    {
      "target": "retrieval",
      "type": "broader"
    },
    {
      "note": "Web search is a search setting and task family; semantic search is a broad approach or capability focused on meaning-based matching.",
      "target": "semantic-search",
      "type": "notEquivalentTo"
    },
    {
      "note": "Web search is the task or system setting; a SERP is the presented search-results page.",
      "target": "serp",
      "type": "notEquivalentTo"
    },
    {
      "note": "Web search can use many retrieval and ranking methods; vector search is one class of vector-based retrieval mechanism.",
      "target": "vector-search",
      "type": "notEquivalentTo"
    },
    {
      "target": "document-retrieval",
      "type": "related"
    },
    {
      "target": "known-item-search",
      "type": "related"
    },
    {
      "target": "ranking",
      "type": "related"
    },
    {
      "target": "serp",
      "type": "related"
    }
  ],
  "representations": {
    "html": "https://id.searchplex.net/web-search/",
    "json": "https://id.searchplex.net/web-search.json",
    "jsonld": "https://id.searchplex.net/web-search.jsonld"
  },
  "scheme": "https://id.searchplex.net/scheme/",
  "scopeNote": "Web search includes information needs such as informational, navigational, and transactional queries and is commonly studied through large-scale web collections and tracks. It is not equivalent to semantic search, vector search, or a particular retrieval method.",
  "status": "published",
  "uri": "https://id.searchplex.net/web-search/"
}