The expression decision engine first appeared in 2009, and links closely with the concept of Web 3.0, the idea of the Internet becoming more ‘intelligent’ as it builds the capacity to make connections between the pieces of information it stores. The term decision engine is of course modelled on the earlier term search engine, which, contrary to what one might think, actually pre-dates the Internet by a few years, first appearing in the mid-eighties. In its first use, the term search engine described any kind of information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer, but with the predominance of the Internet, its popular use has narrowed in meaning to software employed in the specific activity of searching for information on the Web.

The expression decision engine first appeared in 2009, and links closely with the concept of Web 3.0, the idea of the Internet becoming more ‘intelligent’ as it builds the capacity to make connections between the pieces of information it stores. The term decision engine is of course modelled on the earlier term search engine, which, contrary to what one might think, actually pre-dates the Internet by a few years, first appearing in the mid-eighties. In its first use, the term search engine described any kind of information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer, but with the predominance of the Internet, its popular use has narrowed in meaning to software employed in the specific activity of searching for information on the Web.