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Topic: Google delivers a limited view of the world
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Gir Draxon
leftist-rightie and rightist-leftie
Babbler # 3804
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posted 18 July 2003 05:48 AM
bias, or technical flaw?It does not appear that google is intentionally doing those things, rather the number of shopping sites is due to pure volume and quirks in their system. Google evil? I don't think so. Google not infallible? well DUH
From: Arkham Asylum | Registered: Feb 2003
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Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560
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posted 22 July 2003 07:58 AM
It just offers you the most popular sites for the keywords.For instance, if you want to find web sites about apples, the fruit, then type "apple fruit" into google and you'll get information about apples rather than computers. With tulips, you do get a lot of stores, but a lot of those retailers also have information pages about care and growing of tulips as well, and those come up when you type "tulips". You can get better information when you type "tulips growing". And if you want technical, scientific stuff about it, I'll bet if you type "tulips biology" you'll get it. You just have to know how to use a search engine properly. It doesn't take much imagination to figure out that probably most of the internet traffic on tulips is from people who want to buy them online. You have to take that into account.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001
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Mr. Magoo
guilty-pleasure
Babbler # 3469
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posted 23 July 2003 12:55 PM
Try Altavista. It lets you easily force or exclude search terms with + and -.For example, if you like to shoot a little pool, you might type in +"pool", which will force the search to only return pages with the word "pool" in them. Only you're also getting all kinds of swimming/backyard recreation stuff too. So you try +"pool" +"billiards" to get only pages that mention both. Only now you're getting a bunch of motels with pool tables and swimming pools. Try forcing a term or two out, which will only return pages which don't have certain words in them. For example, +"pool" +"billiards" -"swim" -"chlorine" -"water". For good measure, you might want to subtract out -"gene" -"betting" -"car" as well. Sooner or later you've got a nice list of pretty relevant hits.
From: ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø, | Registered: Dec 2002
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Sara Mayo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3714
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posted 23 July 2003 01:33 PM
(Sorry for the double post)
quote:
Try Altavista. It lets you easily force or exclude search terms with + and -.
You can do the same thing with Google and most other search engines. Michelle's tips are bang on for getting what you want out of a search engine. You just have to think of the relevant words that would be (and not be) on the page you are looking for. quote:
I just did a search for "kenmore refrigerator diagnostics". The very first hit was "Kenmore Dryer Diagnostics".
If the results aren't what you're looking for, try using different key words. I searched on "kenmore refrigerator repair" and the first four hits look like they are what you want. Or try "kenmore refrigerator diagnostics -dryer" to exclude any sites mentionning dryers. quote:
At the very least, I'd like to add "canadian" and eliminate any and all hits from outside Canada. My wife tried to find out about "canadian perrenials" and got hits from as far away as Brazil.
Try using google.ca and click on "pages from Canada". "Canadian perrenials" yields 165 hits, but if you limit it to canadian sites you get 26, the first from canadiangardening.com (by the way, the hit count is low because of a spelling mistake, thankfully google suggests the right spelling if it notices a mistake). quote:
If your water heater failed and you needed a new one, would you really want the hits from a "water heater" search? I'd get the Yellow Pages and look for the nearest supplier.
To get the information you want you have to use the tool specialized for the type of info your searching. The yellow pages, or yellowpages.ca (with links to companies websites) is absolutely better for your example. Nobody claims that Google should replace all other kinds of information sournces. [ 23 July 2003: Message edited by: Sara Mayo ]
From: "Highways are monuments to inequality" - Enrique Penalosa | Registered: Feb 2003
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