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Why Do Google Hit Numbers Vary?

Posted by timothy on from the horse-mouth-opens dept.

Supa-Fly writes "I have a question about some conflicting results with the search engine google. I did a search for "pictures of mountains" and got exactly 1 million results. My friend did the same search (from the same office)and got 1,010,000 results. A second friend did the same search as the last 2 and got 1,020,000. These have not changed and every person gets the same results each time. My question is what is up with the discrepancies on google's search results?" Since this question is hard to answer from the outside, Craig Silverstein of Google kindly supplies his best answer to this question, below.

Craig writes: "Thanks for the great question. We get this from time to time and hopefully I can clear up some of the confusion. The number of estimated pages listed to the top right of a Google search results page is indeed, an estimate. It's a good estimate but still, an estimate.

There are many reasons why one might see a difference in the estimated number of pages returned for the same query. It's most likely the queries made by your co-workers were sent to different Google datacenters in what appears to have been a round-robin fashion. The index at any given Google datacenter can change slightly over the course of a day (each index is refreshed completely every three to four weeks). Depending on which datacenter finishes a query, the estimated number of results may vary.

Without having direct access to your environment it is hard for me to tell for sure, however, I believe this is the case."

31 of 362 comments (clear)

  1. first post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    first post?

  2. First poinst bahahaasdf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    asdg asdf asdfasd fsdf s
    This is a post that say la`la'laaaaaaaaaaaaa
    Le` le' leeeeeeeeeeee

  3. duh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    its the evil moose-women that try to rule the earth but constantly fail!

    MWAHAHAHAHHA!

  4. first emu post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    posted in honor of the rustling emu feathers.

  5. Re:Best search engine by FleshWound · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    the other wasn't a mountain at all...it was a hill.
    So, Google likes making mountains out of (mole)hills, eh? =)
  6. sporophyte by bongobongo · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    my site is the number 3 google hit for sporophyte and it's not even about plants mwahahaha

    god bless g00gle, whatever the specifics of its ranking system are :)

  7. Clearly the answer is by BeesTea · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    that pigeons can't count.

    --
    2b2b2b415448300d
  8. OT: Your Sig by shepd · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    >Tell me, Mr. Anderson, what good is a phone call when you are unable to speak?

    Perfectly fine, if you ask me. Phone have buttons. Hook me up with a phone and someone with a live brain on the other end and I'm all set. ;-)

    --
    If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
  9. It raises another question. . . by aoteoroa · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Does anybody here do anything special to market their web sites?

    What works?
    What doesn't?
    Where did you learn these tricks?

    I ask these questions because last Friday someone asked me how to market web sites and I really had no answer for him.

    1. Re:It raises another question. . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      "Does anybody here do anything special to market their web sites?"

      I have a secret hat trick that I don't mind telling you only if you keep it to yourself.

      "What works?"

      Scarifying a virgin goat at the count of midnight.

      "What doesn't?"

      Stuffing your cock up the goat ass before killing it. It piss off the gods.

      "Where did you learn these tricks?"

      Baby Jesus told me so.

      "I ask these questions because last Friday someone asked me how to market web sites and I really had no answer for him."

      I hate it when that happen. I usually start polishing my dick in front of them and they go away.

  10. Re:IN CHINA by Brainboy · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    word i thought they used, Commugle. or rather Commugle uses them.

    --
    Just a guy with an opinion
  11. Russia... by goatasaur · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Doesn't use Google.

    They use Gooleg.

    --
    ~D:
    1. Re:Russia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic


      I thought that was "Gulag."

    2. Re:Russia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      It's called a PUN, genius boy.

  12. Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA by Nemith · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    In America we don't beat a dead horse

    Is it just me or are these "Soviet Russia" jokes geting damn old. I plead with you, Please Stop!

  13. Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA by Reloaded · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    They are getting damn old.

  14. Yes, but IN SOVIET RUSSIA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    the dead horse beats you.

    1. Re:Yes, but IN SOVIET RUSSIA by Cyclometh · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      In Soviet Russia, I heard this one coming about 10 miles away.

    2. Re:Yes, but IN SOVIET RUSSIA by hdparm · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Searched the web for in soviet russia dead horse beats you. Results 1 - 10 of about 2,110. Search took 0.32 seconds.

    3. Re:Yes, but IN SOVIET RUSSIA by tsm_sf · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Killjoy. Please keep your cotton-Pycckn hands off our jokes!

      --
      Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
  15. Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA by Istealmymusic · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    In Soviet Russia, you plead with I!

    --
    "The lesson to be learned is not to take the comments on slashdot too literally." --Vinnie Falco, BearShare
  16. In Soviet Russia ... the dead horse beats YOU by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic


    'nuf said.

  17. Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I think the Iraqis would disagree about America not beating a dead horse.

  18. Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Hey, if they play football with dead black sheeps in afghanistan (watch Rambo III), why wouldn't Iraq accept that americans play a little with a few dead horses?

  19. Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA by Old+Wolf · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Yeah, you beat live horses. I know, I've seen Freddy Got Fingered

  20. Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    In Soviet Russia, dead horse beats you!

  21. Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA by scott_evil · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    See, but it's still funny, so why stop?

  22. Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Sorry. It's all my fault. I actually started the new craze of "In Soviet Russia" and it's snowballed from there.

  23. How to improve your search by sstidman · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I did a search for "pictures of mountains" and got exactly 1 million results.

    I've found that you get better results on Google if you search for what you're really looking for instead of beating around the bush. Try searching for "pictures of breasts". ;-)

    --
    Send/track messages to 100K people: www.xPressAlert.com
  24. Re:The Winner Is.... by danielmaui · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    and when you put Jobs up against Bill, you get?

  25. Re:Handy search tip in Opera by AugstWest · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Along those same lines, if you just enter search terms into the address bar in Phoenix, it's like entering your terms in google and hitting "I'm feeling lucky."

    They've gotten SO much right with phoenix that I'm hoping soon they'll implement something that prevents sites from resizing your browser.

    Or, since I'm just dreaming anyway, I hope that society evolves to the point where people realize that noone actually WANTS their browsers to fill their whole screens spontaneously, and they'll give up on the practice.