How Would You Improve Search?

Google is growing search market share every day. Whatever happens with Yahoo!, to compete the other search engines are going to have to work very hard to catch up, and it is going to take a lot of creative thinking. New and improved algorithms are not going to cut it.

What would you do to grow your search engine if you were Microsoft?

The latest initiative from Microsoft is “Cashback” that you might have heard about recently. I just heard about it today as I have been a bit out of the loop this week. I benefited in this case from hearing all sides and opinions, and was not swayed by the initial negative reactions as I might have been.

Lot’s of people are talking about how Microsoft are “bribing searchers” but paying out either on the publisher or user side is nothing new online, even Google once did what people are describing in Microsoft’s case as “bribes”. As Danny says

for those scoffing at the idea that Microsoft is so “desperate” that it wants to pay searches, let’s not forget that even the Big G was doing it indirectly through affiliates and continues to do it today through its AdSense For Search program.

Paying for searches seems a smart move. Microsoft has money in the bank and a lot to gain or lose. Why not use some of this cash, especially as when moving products they stand to be able to cream some of this cash back off the advertiser?

As I said above, the algorithm, that is the way the search engine works out what to show you, is not the only answer in search, but is what search engines have traditionally shouted loudest about. Google is often talked about in the same breath as their algo, page rank, etc. Consumers just don’t care that much though. If they get results they hope for and expect they are happy. Do they currently? Depends.

Do the searches Danny mentions in his article above ans you can see the disappointment potential. Search engines need to be smarter in identifying what kind of information is required. If someone is early in the buying cycle, sort of wondering what a “DVD recorder” even is, they might want a Wikipedia page explaining in an over view form about the product and category. On the other hand, if you want to buy a DVD recorder you might search using specifics such as “buy”, “shop”, “store”, “cheap”. Somewhere in the middle there are “reviews” and “advice”, there are a lot of models and features out there, you don’t want to buy the wrong item or get ripped off. Each search and user will have different requirements.

Mahalo aims to do this using humans crafting pages. Much has been said for and against but right now it seems they have a shot no less than the others. Scale and implementation worries aside, perhaps a human being can work out what a searcher is looking for better than a computer? Try it for yourself, I don’t think they are far off, for this search at least.

DVD Burner - Mahalo

So what would you do if you were Microsoft? Is there any beating Google now? Is search even broken in your view? Please share your thoughts in the comments …

Posted on May 22, 2008 by Chris Garrett 
Filed Under Microsoft

Comments

One Response to “How Would You Improve Search?”

  1. rjleaman on May 24th, 2008 3:37 pm

    I found Barry’s article quite fascinating, and can agree that the lack of reference to cashback through the shop/order process is likely to be a huge roadblock. The whole process seems terribly time-consuming, too (never mind that odd zero-cashback result at the end) and I have to wonder whether the average searcher/shopper will bother.

    By the way, it seems that the new AVG 8 has integrated Yahoo search into its linkscan toolbar: no doubt that will do wonders for Yahoo’s search market share. People do tend to use what’s sitting right there in front of them.

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