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I expect that the estimate is more accurate than "we said 11000 but the actual result was 1000". Of course I understand it isn't going to be perfect, but that's

I expect that the estimate is more accurate than "we said 11000 but the actual result was 1000". Of course I understand it isn't going to be perfect, but that's two orders of magnitude off.

k3ylebe3nzle 4y ago
AlbertCory 4y ago
> the actual result was 1000. Wrong. I tried "the meaning of life" on Google just now. It said: About 9,890,000,000 results (0.66 seconds) Where is the claim that you will be able to scroll through 9,890,000,000 results? There is plenty to complain about with Google, and the rest of this thread shows you some of it. It will be a lot more productive for you to focus on some of that.
- Sayrus 4y ago
  That's not the issue OP has. The issue is that the claim changes when you reach the last page. For "purpose of life" it changes from "Page 22 of about 12,270,000,000 results" to "Page 23 of about 226 results".
- cmeacham98 4y ago
  I'm not sure what you're trying to say, how else would I interpret "9,890,000,000 results" than "there are 9.89 billion results for that query (that you could theoretically scroll through)"?
  - sulam 4y ago
    I would interpret it as an invitation to refine my search query, because that’s too many results for me to usefully filter.
    - A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
      Yes, but a reasonable person would likely think that there is that many results to wade through if they so chose.
    - nmeagent 4y ago
      An invitation to try to refine your search query, while Google simultaneously does its best to ignore a significant fraction of the terms in your refined query because it thinks it knows better than you.
    - jasonfarnon 4y ago
      I would interpret "refine your search query" as an invitation to refine my search query. Not, there are ___ results and here is the first 10 of them and an arrow at the bottom of the page to go to the next 10. That is a pretty bad way of conveying "refine your search query". A pretty bad way that happens to be flattering to the company.
    - onion2k 4y ago
      But really, as far as any non-Googler is concerned, there's 400 actual results and a random number generator that generated "9,890,000,000" for that search. It's not a million miles from hotel and flights websites saying "37 people are looking at this page right now!" It's a dark pattern to increase engagement. A pretty innocuous one in Google's case, but it is a little deceptive.

I expect that the estimate is more accurate than "we said 11000 but the actual result was 1000". Of course I understand it isn't going to be perfect, but that's two orders of magnitude off.

k3ylebe3nzle 4y ago

AlbertCory 4y ago

> the actual result was 1000. Wrong. I tried "the meaning of life" on Google just now. It said: About 9,890,000,000 results (0.66 seconds) Where is the claim that you will be able to scroll through 9,890,000,000 results? There is plenty to complain about with Google, and the rest of this thread shows you some of it. It will be a lot more productive for you to focus on some of that.

Sayrus 4y ago
That's not the issue OP has. The issue is that the claim changes when you reach the last page. For "purpose of life" it changes from "Page 22 of about 12,270,000,000 results" to "Page 23 of about 226 results".
cmeacham98 4y ago
I'm not sure what you're trying to say, how else would I interpret "9,890,000,000 results" than "there are 9.89 billion results for that query (that you could theoretically scroll through)"?
- sulam 4y ago
  I would interpret it as an invitation to refine my search query, because that’s too many results for me to usefully filter.
  - A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
    Yes, but a reasonable person would likely think that there is that many results to wade through if they so chose.
  - nmeagent 4y ago
    An invitation to try to refine your search query, while Google simultaneously does its best to ignore a significant fraction of the terms in your refined query because it thinks it knows better than you.
  - jasonfarnon 4y ago
    I would interpret "refine your search query" as an invitation to refine my search query. Not, there are ___ results and here is the first 10 of them and an arrow at the bottom of the page to go to the next 10. That is a pretty bad way of conveying "refine your search query". A pretty bad way that happens to be flattering to the company.
  - onion2k 4y ago
    But really, as far as any non-Googler is concerned, there's 400 actual results and a random number generator that generated "9,890,000,000" for that search. It's not a million miles from hotel and flights websites saying "37 people are looking at this page right now!" It's a dark pattern to increase engagement. A pretty innocuous one in Google's case, but it is a little deceptive.