There always seems to be lots of excitable web news about the \u2018\u2019 or how \u2018\u2019, but in the last few weeks it appears that finally there might actually be some new search engines coming into existence that could potentially rival the\u00a0.<\/p>\n
In the days of the decline of the searches Yahoo and MSN live! (though in the US both still hold a decent measure of success) it seems some new kids are on the block, even one might be an offshoot of a predecessor. They might sound like characters from\u00a0, but in fact they are self-appointed rivals to Google.<\/p>\n
These\u00a0\u00a0pride themselves on impressive returns as search engines, largely aiming for accuracy over domain pagerank \u2013 answering user queries straight out or targeting what the user might want with the results. Google has countered by offering new additions itself \u2013 search for \u2018\u2019 and it will now tell you the answer is \u2018\u2019 immediately at the top of the results without the need to click on through another site.<\/p>\n
So have these new engines favoured style over substance? Is simplicity the key for search engines? Google has certainly always taken that view and it hasn\u2019t done them any harm!\u00a0\u00a0had a look at their latest competition:<\/p>\n
Out of the ashes of\u00a0\u00a0springs the bizarrely named Microsoft \u2018\u2019 search. Whether it\u2019s named after the neurotic Friends character, the phrase \u201cbada-bing bada-bing\u201d or possibly the noise a microwave makes when it\u2019s done, we\u2019re not exactly sure. But it certainly looks good, and seems to work well to. Bill Gates\u2019 minions have done well in creating a good looking interface with a simple results page, but the main question on my, and many others\u2019 lips, is…\u201dSo…?\u201d.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s different about\u00a0? On the face of it, not much really. The search results do not appear to be any better or worse than Google\u2019s, though they might be a little less cluttered,\u00a0and the \u2018related search\u2019 bar doesn\u2019t offer anything new of note. It\u2019s decent, and worth checking out, but it\u2019s not overwhelming enough to make one want to start Binging and stop Googling.<\/p>\n
Ok so\u00a0isn\u2019t technically a search engine, it\u2019s a data calculator. But it is aiming to be a Google-Defeater, so it\u2019s very relevant here. \u00a0The brainchild of British brainbox Stephen Wolfram, the premise is simple in its complexity. Type in a query such as \u2018population UK\u2019 and you\u2019ll get a plethora of exciting statistics and graphs which actually can be very useful to one genuinely intrigued by such matters \u2013 and it helpfully offers the main figure at the top. It\u2019s very impressive, and is still young so there\u2019s plenty of potential here.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d say\u00a0is more likely to be a Wikipedia-botherer than a Google-Defeater but it\u2019s a creditable source and one well worth using.<\/p>\n
Heavily funded and developed by ex-Google innovators,\u00a0was meant to be\u00a0\u00a0to beat Google. The excitement was undousable on its opening day, so much so that\u00a0\u2019s servers couldn\u2019t cope with the load at one point, its promise that it indexed more pages than Google one of great attraction to many wanting to test out this new search.\u00a0Problem is,\u00a0is just not there yet.<\/p>\n
Searches are ranked on their relevance and content rather than the popularity \u2013 which on the face of it makes great sense. Unfortunately this can bring up some strage results that aren\u2019t necessarily useful to a browser \u2013 search terms such as \u2018Twilight\u2019 that are both a popular book and a generally used term bring up an interesting mix of results.<\/p>\n
There are some nice features here, not least\u00a0\u2019s superior look. The \u2018timeline\u2019 feature works pretty well and is a nifty little addition on a search, and \u2018explore by category\u2019 is another user-friendly feature that would attract users and help eliminate the problems of mixed results.\u00a0isn\u2019t perfect, but it\u2019s clever enough to make Orchid Box want to try it a bit more. That probably isn’t enough for global dominance though.<\/p>\n
Oh and apparently it means wisdom in Gaelic, if you were wondering…<\/p>\n
“THE WEB ORGANISED FOR YOU”. THANKS MUM.<\/p>\n
One of a number of new \u2018categorised\u2019 searches around the web,\u00a0is all about the user, and the personalised search. That is, personalised by\u00a0for you. It’s up to you to decide if that’s a good thing.<\/p>\n
If your term might bring up multiple results,\u00a0will immediately react to your search in the same way Wikipedia might, letting you the various categories your query is under and allowing you the choice.\u00a0For example a search for \u2018Twilight\u2019 will bring up the response that several topic guides have the result \u2013 this is useful, but it\u2019s not really what every user wants. Such results are great if you didn\u2019t know what \u2018Twilight\u2019 was, and you knew which topic guide you wanted \u2013 but where\u2019s the democracy in it all?<\/p>\n
Search results are chosen for you, shop results coming from amazon, reviews from helium and so on… people simply can\u2019t discover much new with\u00a0, at least without copious editing and fiddling. It\u2019s severely limited in its aims and ideals and\u00a0\u00a0simply can\u2019t see this one taking off particularly well.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s by no means the last of them either. There\u2019s plenty more sites competing for the search engine stragglers and experimenters. The advent of\u00a0and endless other news postings on social networking sites does not mean the death of search engines, but it certainly brings about a need to adapt and evolve for a new age of web users.<\/p>\n
The main problem all these new engines\u00a0are likely to find though is in the old adage: \u201cif it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it\u201d. Let\u2019s face it,\u00a0is not quite \u201cbroke\u201d yet…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There always seems to be lots of excitable web news about the \u2018\u2019 or how \u2018\u2019, but in the last few weeks it appears that finally there might actually be some new search engines coming into existence that could potentially rival the\u00a0. In the days of the decline of the searches Yahoo and MSN live! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":899,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n