Hybrid Search Explained

Hybrid search is a technique that combines multiple search algorithms to improve the accuracy and relevance of search results. It uses the best features of both keyword-based search algorithms with vector search techniques, providing a more effective search experience for users. Weaviate, a vector database, introduced hybrid search in version 1.17. The implementation of hybrid search in Weaviate involves using sparse and dense vectors to represent the semantic meaning and context of search queries and documents. By combining these two types of searches, hybrid search queries can lead to more relevant results in use cases where you want to leverage the power of semantic search but also rely on exact matches of certain keywords, such as product or brand names.