|
Yahoo Smashes Google For You And Me
|
By Jeffrey Dorrian
[Hits: 8075]
|
|
Not so long ago in the beginning of the internet age the searchengine function of the major portals was seen as a necessaryevil to help drive customers to profitable areas of thebusiness. Does anyone remember the Go Network? The companiesthat forgot why customers went to the portal in the first placewere the first ones to go out of business. There is a solidbusiness adage that says you must take care of and grow yourcore business first and only support ancillary businesses thatcompliment and enhance your core business.
Most users of search engines are either searching forinformation or shopping. These users are the core customers ofthe search engine. The primary function they demand of thesearch engine is good search results. If the search engine isconsidered the aggregator of search results, why would expectsecondary aggregators to get the best results in our search.
If I am a restaurant owner and I am searching for "restaurantsupplies" and my search results are filled with directories forrestaurant supplies, why not go to the directories first. Is thesearch engine really doing its job if the results turn outsecondary results. Then I must do a second search in thedirectory to find my desired result.
Why are these directories ranking so high in the search engineresults. If the suspected algorithms that Google uses to rankweb pages show that links truly are the determinant factor inassigning page rank, this would explain the result. Explainingthe reason for the result still doesn't explain the logic thatleads to directories being so prevalent in the results.
Would it not benefit the search engine, if it were to be yourdirectory of choice? If you do not to put the word directory inyour search, I would safely assume that you were not looking fora directory. Search engines could satisfy the needs of thedirectories by having a separate search just for directories.Otherwise don't include them. This would only enhance theircustomer's experience by saving them precious time andaggravation. It could even be a marketing point.
Google claims to be a democratically controlled search engine,with links equating to votes for particular web pages. Yetunannounced changes in their ranking structure have wreakedhavoc on many a small Internet entrepreneur. The danger withdemocracies is that the customers can vote with their dollarsand their time and use competing services.
In my very unscientific comparison I have found Google to bethe most likely to include directory results in generalsearches. Lately I have found myself using Yahoo more and morein my everyday searches as the results are more relevant andless time consuming, which is good for you and me.
|
|
|
|
|
|
