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Google Previews New Search Infrastructure

Posted by kdawson on from the not-standing-still dept.

Google has announced a "developer preview" of a new search infrastructure, though one wouldn't have to be a developer to try it out. Google is asking for feedback on how the search results in the new regime stack up against the old. Matt Cutts has posted a mini FAQ. Some early testing indicates that the new search may be faster in some cases, and return more relevant results, than the old one. Those who attempt to game Google search for a living will be scrambling henceforth. Has anyone identified the new crawler bot in log files?

9 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. New crawler bot... by Gavin+Scott · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why would there be a new crawler?? How many more copies of the Interwebs does Google need?

    G.

  2. New algorithm = more relevant results by maxwell+demon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The more relevant results may be just because the algorithm is new, so the SEOs couldn't yet optimize for it. If it really gives more relevant results will be seen after it is the main search algorithm for some time.

    Remember, in the beginning the old algorithm used to be very good in finding relevant results.

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    1. Re:New algorithm = more relevant results by CarpetShark · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Remember, in the beginning the old algorithm used to be very good in finding relevant results.

      I'm not convinced that the degradation is entirely due to SEO. Google used to be a much more technical search -- when you used specific terms, you got specific matches. It seemed to be very much like Altavista with AND between each term. Now, you get a mix of things, as if it was OR between each term. Granted, *that* could be just SEO.

      Secondly though, if you search for X, you're asked if you meant Y, and your search results already seem to be for the popular Y result they think you meant.

      Likewise, you used to be able to search for hyphenated-terms (I hyphenated all time because it's usually a character less, and requires less editing after the fact than putting quotes around words), but now, it seems to split them into two terms.

      I think google have dumbed down their search for people who don't know how to use search engines.

    2. Re:New algorithm = more relevant results by Paaskonijn · · Score: 5, Informative

      Secondly though, if you search for X, you're asked if you meant Y, and your search results already seem to be for the popular Y result they think you meant.

      Try searching for +X.

    3. Re:New algorithm = more relevant results by PsychoSlashDot · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I could live with the current semantics just fine if there were two Google modes: research and purchase. When I search for "Laserjet 4000" in research mode, I'm explicitly saying that I'm searching for pages ABOUT Laserjet 4000 printers, and absolutely not looking for a way to BUY a Laserjet 4000. Contextually isolating these two modes would be hugely helpful. When I want to buy a Widget and I'm simply looking for the best deals, I don't want a bunch of pages where people are reviewing or discussing the product. When I want to fix my Widget, I don't want a bunch of pages trying to sell me a new one. Sometimes a mixture is good, but for me it usually isn't.

      --
      "Oh no... he found the .sig setting."
  3. Re:First Post by darkvad0r · · Score: 5, Informative

    stop spending them, that'll do (at least it worked for me)
    alternatively, you could check your settings and set the relevant option to "I don't want to help" (see the FAQ)

  4. Re:Major Disapppointment by koolfy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    two words :
    Exalead
    Yauba

    Exalead is more powerful, and Yauba is a little less effective for specific search like "gentoo bug kernel 2.6.30 fglrx", but guarantees 100% anon, and is pretty powerful and useful in some cases.

    Google is not the better search engine on the web, their new engine is very good, but google itself hasn't envolve since... I don't know, it's always the same, and we barely see new features added. (take a look at exdalead labs).

    After testing several search engines, it appears that google is not the one with the best ideas, and that pertinence and engines of others like exalead aren't bad enough to consider them inferior to google. Google is the most known, and others well known like bing are not as powerful as those two less-known search engines.

    --
    Segmentation Fault in "Life, Universe and Everything" at line 42. Don't Panic.
  5. Re:Major Disapppointment by ChienAndalu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Since when is "putting cruft on search results page so that it is barely usable" and "not implementing sessions and cookies" evolution? Google won because it was nice and clean compared to altavista and yahoo.

  6. Re:Major Disapppointment by ChienAndalu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You seem to equate "features" with quality of the search engine.

    Some value

    - speed
    - a clean interface and
    - relevance of the search results (which can be improved by analyzing my previous searches)

    If you want to surf the web anonymously, use TOR. Trusting the site saying "we don't have server logs, PROMISE" is silly.