4 ms·
One very simple metric to improve search results is testing how long a user visits a site. When users search for something, click a link and return to google se
by pizzapill 6y ago
One very simple metric to improve search results is testing how long a user visits a site. When users search for something, click a link and return to google seconds later you can assume that the result did not match what the user was searching for.
- hedora 6y agoThen why aren’t Google results any better (arguably worse) than search engines that don’t do this?
- schnable 6y agoThey are better IME - I use DDG but still need to switch to Google for many searches to find what I'm looking for.
- Daho0n 6y agoThey are better. Maybe not to you but there's a reason Google is as big as it is. DDG, Bing, etc. are just awful.
- prionassembly 6y agoBecause they're so dominant they can make changes to the system that make it worse. Haven't you noticed the decline in quality of Google search results over these past few years?
- CobrastanJorji 6y agoWhat makes you think Google's results are worse?
- marshmallow_12 6y agoi find google is useless at this. They throw out irrelevant results that the Wise Men of Google think you want to see, or that they'd like you to see. DDG pay more attention to your wording. The drawback is they have fewer indexed pages.
- CobrastanJorji 6y agoYou find Google is useless at what?
- marshmallow_12 6y agoshowing the results i'm looking for
- sdesol 6y agoI'd also wager this is probably the most useful or close to the most useful metrics you can use. With this metric, plus the user's persona (male or female, teen or elderly, and so forth), you have a fairly accurate user driven ranking system.
- iaml 6y agoWhy can't search engine just ask the user if this site was relevant instead of using tracking to do it?
- ohduran 6y agobecause the underlying assumption is that what they'll tell you is the truth, and that's not necessarily the case. Think of a Firefox plugin in, AdNauseam style, that always says NO.
- iaml 6y agoBut there's nothing stopping the same people from gaming existing logic that tracks user behavior except security through obscurity. But you also get dirty data via tracking where it's indistinguishable from backend if user found what they want or just gave up on trying for example.
- thekyle 6y agoBecause then SEOs would write bots to keep clicking that their site is relevant to everything.
- wizzwizz4 6y agoBut you can get SEOs to fake metrics, too.