Fun With Google Search ResultsI had a little bit of fun with Google, and decided to share it. Since Google has, arguably, the best search results (most relevant) I decided to perform a search for “search engine” thinking Google would then provide me with the best search engine for me to use going forward. Here’s what I got (the extra “bits” are from the Compete toolbar):
Of all the search engines, Google apparently feels the top three are Alta Vista, Dogpile and Yahoo, in that order, with a Wikipedia page thrown in there for some education. In fact, google.com doesn’t appear on the first page (google.co.uk did appear on the second page, I’m searching from the states). So then I did a search for “google”…on Google.
Obviously these are relevant results, but I think Google can do better If (stress “if”) there’s one search term Google should be allowed to artificially manipulate, I’d say it’s this one. If Google wanted to list out it’s top ten products/destinations I don’t think the Google directory (scraped ODP) would fit anywhere in that (or even Google Video after their acquisition of YouTube). Certainly Adwords should be listed. Speaking of Adwords, the sponsored listings for “google”:
More than the organic results, these can really be manipulated without a backlash. The only “paid” result is iGoogle? What about Website Optimizer? Adwords? The Google toolbar? Checkout? Base or Apps? Come on Google! Cover all your bases! It’s not like it’ll cost you anything. This was all for fun. Only Google knows the amount and quality of traffic from “google” as a search term:
…though it has an “Average” search volume. Tags: google |
