Google loosing usefullnes?

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2007-03-08 06:39am

What is your take on google.

I find myself using it less and less, if I search for a review of somthing the first 10 pages or so is googleoptimised crap that I have no use of.

Errorlogs in windows? Same shit and so on, I am using MSN search more and more because it is easier to find the stuff I want to find with it.

Do you agree or disagree?

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2007-03-08 09:49am

I still use it every now and then, but for the most part I hardly ever do much in the way of actual searching anymore. Nearly all of the sites I use I either learn about in chat rooms, from other websites than Google, or I already know of.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2007-03-08 09:54am

Google has always had the problem for me....it rips from everything and rarely seperates what just has those words and what is something I'm looking for.

Looking up certain law changes can get at best simply frustrating, usually the fucking search engine doesn't find it unless I change everything and it searches under those words.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2007-03-08 10:10am

I still use it daily, though more often for spell-checking, source image searching, and their Froogle and Map functions. I'm finding that to simply look stuff up, I'm using Wikipedia so much more.

RThurmont · Post by **RThurmont** » 2007-03-08 10:12am

I'm having just the opposite relationship with Google right now. Since I switched to Opera as my primary browser, I've probably done twice as many Google searches thanks to Opera's handy inline search function. Additionally, from my perspective, Google has never been as good in terms of the quality of the results that I get. On a typical search, I'm getting far fewer search engine spam sites than in the past, and additionally, the results for each search tend to be highly diversified, so if I search for a given phrase, I'll often get results from several different meanings of that phrase.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2007-03-08 10:18am

Google still works if you know the tricks. That said, I haven't really tried any other engines in-depth.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2007-03-08 10:31am

Bounty wrote:Google still works if you know the tricks. That said, I haven't really tried any other engines in-depth.

I've tried a few other search engines, but most of them just don't have the indexing that Google does.

Darth Garden Gnome · Post by **Darth Garden Gnome** » 2007-03-08 10:34am

I pretty much use it for everything. I have a weird habit of Googling to get to sites that I visit a lot that I should probably just bookmark, but whatever.

Medic · Post by **Medic** » 2007-03-08 01:50pm

Darth Garden Gnome wrote:I pretty much use it for everything. I have a weird habit of Googling to get to sites that I visit a lot that I should probably just bookmark, but whatever.

You're one of those guys.

I have to admit that the relevancy of typical google searches isn't that reliable.

Looking up certain law changes can get at best simply frustrating, usually the fucking search engine doesn't find it unless I change everything and it searches under those words.

I noticed the same exact thing as GR actually. The thread on the Military Commissions Act got me one really nice website to track bills through the Congress but that was after wading in the mud for probably 15 minutes. Definitely quantity over quality -- is MSN's search so much better though? I've not used it in over a year.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2007-03-08 02:45pm

Depends on what you're searching for. I find it mediocre at best for looking up various laws like say, the use of force or firearms regulations for various states & countries. Same thing with customs restrictions and what can & can't be brought over a border.

For other things it works quite well, like tracking down datasheets for vacuum tubes, transistors, integrated circuits, cars, bikes, and that kind of stuff.

Everything else is somewhere in between, but I find it still does a better overall job than anything else out there.

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2007-03-08 03:39pm

Its pretty useful for looking up UK laws, which are, admittedly, all on one page with all the technical jargon that the civil service can muster without breaking a sweat.

I generally use it for the odd spellings as well as finding the odd thing that someone fails to notice on a quick search.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2007-03-08 07:22pm

I generally default to Google; if I don't have much luck there, I'll try Yahoo.

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2007-03-08 07:43pm

Bounty wrote:Google still works if you know the tricks. That said, I haven't really tried any other engines in-depth.

It's just the art of google-fu, knowing how to properly craft a devestatingly effective search term

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2007-03-09 12:18am

I almost never use Google as I'm accustomed to Yahoo. I don't know why, but Google has never sat right with me.

Mr. T · Post by **Mr. T** » 2007-03-09 12:44am

Mange wrote:I almost never use Google as I'm accustomed to Yahoo. I don't know why, but Google has never sat right with me.

I know for me at least it was because in 2000(?) or around that time Yahoo had this dark grey-ish background and google was bright white, and the dark grey hurt my eyes less so I went with that

Eventually though they both got the bright ass white background and everyone started wanking to google and I got caught up in it and switched.

I still use it as my search engine out of habit rather than merit.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2007-03-09 01:56am

I have yet to be given a good reason to use anything but Google.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-03-09 02:08am

I still use google, but I have noticed a marked dropoff in relevant results. It used to be that when you searched for a PC or console game by name, you'd get the official site at the top followed by fansites. Now the front page is dominated by sites like IGN that might not actually even have more than a blurb about the game. Same when you search for walktrhu's on games, it's all links to review sites and such that use the word 'walktrhu' a lot but don't actually have a walktrhu for that particular game.

LMSx · Post by **LMSx** » 2007-03-09 11:22pm

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:I still use google, but I have noticed a marked dropoff in relevant results. It used to be that when you searched for a PC or console game by name, you'd get the official site at the top followed by fansites. Now the front page is dominated by sites like IGN that might not actually even have more than a blurb about the game. Same when you search for walktrhu's on games, it's all links to review sites and such that use the word 'walktrhu' a lot but don't actually have a walktrhu for that particular game.

Uh....Maybe you should try searching for walkthroughs.

The first result, BTW, is gamefaqs.com which is really all you should need unless it's some random obscure game.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-03-10 02:26am

I know how the word is spelled, but it's always spelled 'walkthru' by the people who write them. Go figure.

HSRTG · Post by **HSRTG** » 2007-03-10 02:37am

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:I know how the word is spelled, but it's always spelled 'walkthru' by the people who write them. Go figure.

Gamefaqs is good for any walkthrough I've needed. Crappy forums maybe, but the walkthroughs are solid. What game was it that Gamefaqs wasn't good for?

dworkin · Post by **dworkin** » 2007-03-10 03:14am

I dunno. Either I know what I'm looking for down to a specific address or I don't care. For the latter Google is sorta fine.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-03-10 05:13pm

HSRTG wrote:
Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:I know how the word is spelled, but it's always spelled 'walkthru' by the people who write them. Go figure.
Gamefaqs is good for any walkthrough I've needed. Crappy forums maybe, but the walkthroughs are solid. What game was it that Gamefaqs wasn't good for?

Gamefaqs is always my first stop, but games that have only been out a few days aren't there. Of course, they usually aren't anywhere else either, but it's at least worth the effort of searching.