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Search wars - which is the best?

 
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tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45672
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 04 6:29 pm    Post subject: Search wars - which is the best? Reply with quote
    

As Microsoft enters the internet search engine market, users find themselves overwhelmed with options. We compare the big players on five key areas.

Google

MSN

A9

Yahoo!

Ask Jeeves

The verdict


The test

First a search for "raleigh" - chosen as it is a word with several meanings including the bike company, the US city, the expedition charity and the Elizabethan explorer.
How fast? Although engines can be slowed down by problems in receiving networks, searches made within minutes can give a comparison.
Then how did it look and could it tell us an Alsatian's IQ (reportedly 60 - whether this is true or not is irrelevant). Finally, the simple question - what is the time in Sydney?
The verdict


I was a slave to Google although only a basic user who rarely used the advanced tools.

It's clear how it's become the market leader with its reach unrivalled since it doubled its index this week. And it got the obscure fact easily.

But the basic search could be a little more refined - a triumph of mass over classification, perhaps?

The new competitor MSN has had teething problems and we should bear in mind this is a test mode.

But it failed to home in on some of the raleigh references picked up by its rivals and the search builder tool is time-consuming if you're in a rush.

The mechanisms designed to trump Google, such as the Near Me and direct questions, seem limited at this stage.

Yahoo! did try and help me with its "also try" section and it answered the Sydney question too. But it is cluttered on the engine's front page.

All three could take a leaf out of the butler's book. Ask Jeeves gave a great classification of raleigh into its different definitions. And it got the question and the obscure fact.

A9 looks like a good bet for the popular culture references, with its access to the vast Amazon retail cupboard.

Story from BBC NEWS:
https://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/magazine/4005919.stm

Published: 2004/11/12 11:40:19 GMT

jema
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28235
Location: escaped from Swindon
PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 04 7:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Did I mention I wrote Foboz:

https://www.marsjupiter.com/foboz

to allow you do use 100's of search engines and not get trapped by just one which will alway have its bias.

jema

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45672
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 04 7:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

How does downsizer do in Foboz?

jema
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28235
Location: escaped from Swindon
PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 04 7:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Very badly

We are there, but well down, oddly far down in fact, seeing as we are so high in google.

jema

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45672
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 04 7:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Is that because google ranks on different factors than other search engines?

jema
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28235
Location: escaped from Swindon
PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 04 7:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

All search engines rank differently and then Foboz itself judges relevence, based on the text on the site, the ranks from various engines, the number of engines that found the same result etc.

jema

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