Relationships are so much more than the mere act of following or friending someone on Twitter or any social network for that matter. It’s the balladry of transcending online connections into real world relationships. It’s the cadence of interaction and the poetry of conversations that empower the human network and the escalation of the Social Economy.

On Social Networks we’re bound by context and not necessarily by the relationships that link us in the real world.

We listen to relevant keywords to learn from others who share our interests and passions.

We’re followed or friended by people prior to understanding who they are and how we’re potentially affected through an alignment.

We’re complex and multi-dimensional individuals, more so online, who distinctly connect with varying contacts tethered to transforming frames of reference.

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Search engines are pretty good at finding Web pages closely related to exact terms users type in. They’ve had less success finding results that are conceptually related to what a user is looking for. For instance, a search for “abstract expressionism” may have missed certain results for the related artistic movement “surrealism.”

Google (GOOG) took a step toward cracking that nut Tuesday, releasing an upgrade to its technology that better understands associations and concepts related to search. The feature is based on technology called Orion that was developed by Ori Allon while he was a Ph.D. student in Australia. Google acquired it in 2006.

Mr. Allon, who now works at Google, said in an interview that the technology–-which seeks to understand the context around a query–is a key part of Google’s effort to provide more useful and trustworthy results beyond matching keywords with Web pages. Eventually, Google wants to be able to provide trustworthy answers to questions like “What is good pain medication after eye surgery,” he said.

It’s starting slow, by using it to suggest conceptually related searches at the bottom of the search result page, where it already highlights related searches the user might to try. So a search for “principles of physics” will recommend “physics angular momentum” as well.

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China today is reportedly shutting down about 10,000 unregistered and unapproved Web sites, most of them operated by small businesses, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. He says that “multiple Chinese media sources” last night discussed the push to clean up unwanted Internet sites.

Munster says the move could have a small negative impact on Baidu (BIDU), the China-based Internet search service. He notes that at the end of 2008, the company had 197,000 customers. He figures that about half of the Web sites that the government is shutting down were likely buying keywords from Baidu, or about 2.5 percent of its customers.

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Last night, Yahoo (YHOO) emailed their search advertisers about new terms and conditions, including a controversial provision that they are allowed to create ads, remove or add keywords to campaigns and “optimize” accounts–which could allow for bid changes. All of this can be done without seeking the advertiser’s permission beforehand. Though the provision is at least six months old, it finally got noticed due to the recent email–and is attracting some outcry.

Here is the snippet in the terms and conditions that states this:

Sponsored Search 3. OPTIMIZATION. In the U.S. only, for those advertisers not bound by an Insertion Order, we may help you optimize your account(s). Accordingly, you expressly agree that we may also: (i) create ads, (ii) add and/or remove keywords, and/or (iii) optimize your account(s). We will notify you via email of such changes made to your account(s), and can also include a spreadsheet of such changes upon your written request.”

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Baidu (BIDU) today issued a press release to address allegations in a China Central Television report that yesterday drove down the Chinese Internet search company’s shares $44.80, or 25 percent.

As I noted in several posts yesterday, a CCTV report broadcast on Nov. 15 and 16 asserted that some unlicensed medical companies appeared high in the company’s search results due to their willingness to pay for popular keywords. Baidu’s search engine mixes paid and unpaid search results. The company was also accused of pulling from its search index some organizations that declined to buy keywords.

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