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Objectively Comparing Competing Search Engines?

Posted by Cliff on from the oogling-others-against-google dept.

aendeuryu asks: "My default search engine of choice is, like most of you I assume, Google. That said, some complaints about Google over the years do seem to have some merit -- basically, that sometimes the indices aren't always updated, that it's too easy to manipulate via googlebombing or legislation, and that maybe too many of its featured services never get out of beta stage. Maybe the fact that Google has gone so long without significant competition is enough to make one at least begin to ask questions about it possibly becoming stagnant. Personally, I'm so used to doing things the Google way (and achieving acceptable results quickly) that I'm not really interested in switching -- case in point, all the above links referenced were quickly found via Google. However, what am I missing out on by not giving (for example) Yahoo search a shot? Or, more to the point, how would one go about trying to effectively and objectively compare competing search engines? In what areas have people found Google to have become obsolete for their purposes? Have less ignorant people than myself figured out ways to test a competing search engine's efficacy for themselves?"

4 of 405 comments (clear)

  1. Dont bother by nb+caffeine · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you know how to use google to achieve your results, whats the issue? If a better search comes along, im sure it will be posted on slashdot (twice), so you dont need to worry about missing out.

    --

    "Something's wrong with you...and I hope we never do meet again." - Deftones When Girls Telephone Boys
  2. Why Google works by onyxruby · · Score: 5, Insightful
    OK, here it, why Google has become king.
    1. Simple interface, quickly loads.
    2. No graphical Ads
    3. Paid results are clearly ads and seperated from real results.
    That's it, that's why Google is king. Until Yahoo, MSN search, Ask Jeeves and the like get those three points, they will continue to be second fiddle.
  3. Re:Dont bother - why? Parallel to OS Wars by drhamad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I know how to use Windows to achieve the necessary results better than the Mac or Linux. Does that means I should never try to use the Mac or Linux? Does that mean that I won't achieve better results if I learn to properly use the Mac or Linux?

    --
    -Daniel
  4. Re:Questions by Yurian · · Score: 5, Insightful
    An excellent question-answering engine is BrainBoost.. It's currently slow, but damn impressive sometimes.

    The other day I needed to know, for obscure reasons, the number of heroin addicts in Dublin. This is the kind of info that you know is probably on the web, but is going to be hard to find with Google.

    I used BrainBoost - "How many heroin addicts are there in Dublin?", and, bam, first line of the result - "There are 13,000 heroin addicts in Dublin."

    That's damn impressive. Out of curiosity I tried to see if I could find the same info with Google - it was fairly tough. Took three or four searches, eventually resorting to

    "there are * heroin" Dublin
    which is a fairly specialized search that average users probably wouldn't be able to construct. The BrainBoost search, on the other hand, was completely natural, my granma could have done it.

    So, thumbs up for BrainBoost for question answering.

    Still, it's not the kind of thing you'll want every day. For day-to-day search, Google is the tool, but BB is worth a look.