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I hear you. Google search is becoming increasingly useless. Just this morning I was looking for some Scheme documentation. Typing "scheme set!" into Google ret

I hear you. Google search is becoming increasingly useless. Just this morning I was looking for some Scheme documentation. Typing "scheme set!" into Google returned all kinds of crap because Google not only ignored the "!" after "set", it also searched for "scheme OR set" instead of "scheme AND set!". Bing, on the other hand, gave me exactly what I need. DuckDuckGo was as bad as Google. I realize they're doing it to help out the average user, but whether the average user needs this kind of help is debatable. There are "average" users who actually know what they're doing and they're going to be pissed when Google insults them like this. Lawyers, doctors, photographers, designers, car mechanics, gardeners ... these are "average" users too, and sometimes they have very specific queries. What Google returns when they search for these extremely specific queries is what will decide if they're going to stick with Google or switch to Bing/whatever. "You don't really know what you want. You're too stupid. We know better. Let us help." Is that the message you're sending me, Google?

foxit 15y ago
Exactly. The inability to get Google to recognize punctuation in any form is a killer, and not just for technical queries. There are many proper names that include punctuation but otherwise mundane words, and it's impossible to find what you're looking for in a sea of words with the distinctive punctuation stripped out.
- reinhardt 15y ago
  Did google (or any other engine for that matter) ever take into account punctuation?
  - T-hawk 15y ago
    They've special-cased a few instances of punctuation. C# and C++ work as search terms, for example. & also works, possibly because it frequently shows up in searches with high advertisement value such as "Barnes & Noble". But yes, I'd kill for a search engine that could consistently search for punctuation. I was recently trying to learn the difference between the <%= and <%# pseudotags in ASP.NET and completely struck out on Google.
  - foxit 15y ago
    Yes, 2001 Google did. I don't know their reasons for removing the ability to search strings that include punctuation, but it could have to do with bots using search engines to scan for security exploits, as with the Bing overreaction to phpbb queries (http://blamcast.net/articles/bing-crash http://blamcast.net/articles/bing-crash).
itswindy 15y ago
Search usefulness will be inversely correlated with Google's earnings, just ask Sergey and Larry, read their original paper. I hear through the grapevine that Instant search leads people towards searches with ADS, or more expensive ads. Let's not talk about personalization or how some results make ads better. Coincidences? Uh huh. $40 Billion in revenue this year as search share stays flat.

foxit 15y ago

Exactly. The inability to get Google to recognize punctuation in any form is a killer, and not just for technical queries. There are many proper names that include punctuation but otherwise mundane words, and it's impossible to find what you're looking for in a sea of words with the distinctive punctuation stripped out.

reinhardt 15y ago
Did google (or any other engine for that matter) ever take into account punctuation?
- T-hawk 15y ago
  They've special-cased a few instances of punctuation. C# and C++ work as search terms, for example. & also works, possibly because it frequently shows up in searches with high advertisement value such as "Barnes & Noble". But yes, I'd kill for a search engine that could consistently search for punctuation. I was recently trying to learn the difference between the <%= and <%# pseudotags in ASP.NET and completely struck out on Google.
- foxit 15y ago
  Yes, 2001 Google did. I don't know their reasons for removing the ability to search strings that include punctuation, but it could have to do with bots using search engines to scan for security exploits, as with the Bing overreaction to phpbb queries (http://blamcast.net/articles/bing-crash http://blamcast.net/articles/bing-crash).

itswindy 15y ago

Search usefulness will be inversely correlated with Google's earnings, just ask Sergey and Larry, read their original paper. I hear through the grapevine that Instant search leads people towards searches with ADS, or more expensive ads. Let's not talk about personalization or how some results make ads better. Coincidences? Uh huh. $40 Billion in revenue this year as search share stays flat.