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That's why I miss pre-Google search engines such as AltaVista and alltheweb. "If you searched for "some obscure string of words" you would only get results that
by DoubleGlazing 7y ago
That's why I miss pre-Google search engines such as AltaVista and alltheweb. "If you searched for "some obscure string of words" you would only get results that matches that exact string. I really don't like how Google just chooses to vary the spelling of your query when a match isn't found. I often search for electronics components using their part number. I'll type in something like "P204PPX" (a random code I just made up) and despite there being no match Google still gives me pages of results that are nowhere near what I was looking for.
And the worst thing is that this is all done to keep those ad dollars flowing. Look at how many companies always have a paid advert associated with their name when a search is made. They are paranoid about losing rank due to Google fiddling their algorithm or someone else doing a better SEO job using their brand.
- KMag 7y agoGoogle used to respect search operators, and dramatically tone down query optimization for queries that contained operators. As I've written elsewhere, I suspect learn-to-rank is to blame[0], by optimizing ranking for generic sloppy queries despite your query being very focused. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22747889 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22747889
- fingerlocks 7y agoIf a match isn’t found with your verbatim query, then it falls back to something similar. At least that’s my experience. Random string of text still matches exact in quotes: https://www.google.com/search?q=%E2%80%9CI%20really%20don%27t%20like%20how%20Google%20just%20chooses%20to%20vary%20the%20spelling%20of%20your%20query%20when%20a%20match%20isn%27t%20found.%E2%80%9D&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m https://www.google.com/search?q=%E2%80%9CI%20really%20don%27...