Some Observations about Search..
I want to talk briefly about Google, MSN, and Yahoo, and what they’re currently doing wrong.
First up, search for “NBA Draft”. You’ll notice the #1 site (#5 on google) is for the 2004 draft predictions.
This is clearly not relevant, and shouldn’t even be anywhere on page 1. The same was true for any NFL draft searches prior to this weekend.
Search seems to have a problem with date relevancy. How do you tell what’s relevant forever (internet slang, abraham lincoln, great wall of china, mesotheliomia, etc) and what’s relevant depending on time (NBA draft, mortgage rates, american idol, world series of poker)
It’s hard to tell just looking at a created date and a page updated date, but you guys have much more information than that..
You know how frequently the search volume changes. For example, you should be able to see that “nfl draft” searches peak in april, and that should signal a “hey this is current events, date is important” type flag. Matt Cutts, if you’re reading…. that’s for you.
Now, Bill Gates.. If you’re reading I’ve got some advice for you on how to crush Google (sorry Matt!)
Google is in an uproar about having MSN search the default (and Google not listed) in the new IE. But that’s thinking small..
What about an MSN search built into the desktop of Vista? Surely the lazy Joe 6-packs would use that over pulling up a browser right?
Speaking of desktop, it’s time you made that more web enabled anyway… but that’s another topic. For now, work on sorting out whether or not my searches are time relevant or not..
I don’t really care much about the 2004 draft prospects.
January 6th, 2005
