In new iterations of search, you will type the name of that restaurant and be provided with its address and map, a view of its menu, the option to reserve then and there via OpenTable, see its ranking on Yelp, CitySearch, Zagat—along with photos, tweets, what your friends have said about it in your private social networks, and a quick and simple way to compare it with other similar restaurants.
I guess he hasn't noticed that Google has these things today. Of course homepage, address, phone number, and star rating are there, but there's a lot more too. Map? Check. Hours? Check. Directions? Check. Reviews from Yelp, CitySearch, etc? Check. Tweets from your friends? Check. That's all right on the results page, and of course with instant search you don't even have to press enter to see it. Photos, related places, and links to reservations on OpenTable are one click away on the place page.
In some ways nothing new here. For example, right now you can type in pi into Google, and Google will provide its value above the search results.
I doubt that the page of links will go away anytime soon. For restaurant addresses and other highly focused searches that rely on public information, that works. However, content creators will fight you mightily if you as a search engine want to use their copyrighted content to generate your own content. What's in it for them, if you provide the answer to the customer and take them out of the loop?
And this now implies that you become more than a traditional search company, you become a content company. That's no easy feat either.
I guess he hasn't noticed that Google has these things today. Of course homepage, address, phone number, and star rating are there, but there's a lot more too. Map? Check. Hours? Check. Directions? Check. Reviews from Yelp, CitySearch, etc? Check. Tweets from your friends? Check. That's all right on the results page, and of course with instant search you don't even have to press enter to see it. Photos, related places, and links to reservations on OpenTable are one click away on the place page.