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Free Lesson
Ranking is overrated: why query understanding matters more
60 min
Oct 10, 2025 2:00 PM
Virtual (Zoom)
In this video
What you'll learn
Why ranking in search can be a crutch
Ranking should be a secondary concern, only done after we know what's in the query.
Getting started with query understanding
Going from zero to hero taking apart queries, classifying them, extracting entities, and routing them.
How query understanding fits into modern retrieval and AI
In today’s RAG and agentic world, learn query understanding’s unique role in retrieving context for modern applications.
Why this topic matters
Context depends on search that understands what users / agents want. That's why retrieval must go beyond ranking and towards understanding, to get the exact thing an agent or human wants!
Search for the band "The The" on Google. Normal retrieval would rank endless reams of nonsense. However Google identifies this term as a band, returning to users / agents the exact information they want.
You'll learn from
Daniel Tunkelang
Principal, High Class Consultant
Doug Turnbull
Principal ML Engineer in Search
Previously at
