Google Tweaks Algorithm As Concern Over Bing Grows 397
SharkLaser writes "As Bing gets closer to capturing almost 33% of the market share in the U.S., Google has again made a large tweak to its algorithms to provide more up-to-the-minute search results. The change affects around 35% of queries and is intended to give users more recent news and stories. For breaking news stories the search engine will now weight more heavily the most recent coverage, and not just those sites that are linked the most, and for general terms the search engine values fresh content more than old. Google is hoping that these recent new changes will provide better search experience and stops users from switching over to Bing, which just recently launched its own GroupOn like site."
Re:Bring back ability to use plus and quotes... (Score:2, Informative)
You can still use quotes. The only reason the plus was removed (in favour of the quotation marks, which accomplish the same thing) is because it interfered with searching for Google+
Re:What? (Score:4, Informative)
This is Crap! (Score:5, Informative)
"Google is facing an increasing threat from Microsoft’s Bing search engine, which is close to providing a third of all internet searches, either directly or via partners such as Yahoo."
Without it's partners - Bing has crap:
http://www.netmarketshare.com/
Mobile, Google = 91%, bing =1%
DeskTop Google = 82%, bing = 4%
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-10/google-s-u-s-search-market-share-rises-to-65-3-yahoo-declines.html
US Search : Google = 65% bing = 14%
http://www.karmasnack.com/about/search-engine-market-share/
Global: Google = 84%, bing = 2%
US Google = 83%, bing = 5%
Claiming that bing has 33% of the US market share on search (as in "nearly a third when including business partners such as Yahoo") is generous at best.
-CF
Google is less useful (Score:4, Informative)
in finding quality information than it used to be. Too many aggregator and link farms returned in the results. Too many paywalled sites. They need a non-commercial flag so you can weed out all that crap; sometimes you want neutral, authoritative information instead of the latest diet craze or gadget BS.
As an example, my family recently started experiencing respiratory distress and we suspected toxic mold because of the exceptionally damp, warm summer we had. Yet after *30* pages of search results in Google it is *impossible* to find any information of any kind that isn't trying to sell you a kit.
Re:Look in the mirror, Google! (Score:5, Informative)
Have you tried putting a + in front of your words on Google recently? The plus is deprecated, they are going to drop it, it was all over the news [google.com]. But even if the plus was supported in the future, it's a usability nightmare.
Re:simple fix (Score:2, Informative)
Protip: When you get an Experts Exchange result, click it and scroll to the bottom of the page. You'll find your answers there.
Re:What? (Score:5, Informative)
If I recall, I finally got Google by searching on Bing for how to set up Google as the search provider for IE9. I ended up downloading an addon from Google which added it to the list of search providers in IE9.
Re:What? (Score:5, Informative)
If its set to bing, its a phenomenal PITA to switch-- Google isnt "built in", and you have to go to their "choose search provider" webpage, which has about a zillion search engines that noone cares about. And to even get there you have to navigate through internet options, under "programs".
Its incredibly user-hostile, and theres no excuse for not including the largest search engine provider by default, even if its not set as the active one.