Google goes long with new search pages Google has pushed out two (minor) changes to its web-dominating search engine. Search-results pages now offer longer site descriptions, and a longer list of searches is provided that may or may not improve your initial query. According to a blog post from the Mountain View Chocolate Factory, both changes will "help guide users …
I realise that Google's fuzzy guesswork is handy for those who are searching loosely for a topic, but it's getting more and more complicated to do precise search (exact quoted strings and what not) without a deluge of irrelevant "Did you mean?". I hope they won't lose sight of the simplicity and clarity that brought them success in the first place.
As an owner of a few half successful website businesses, this doesn't make me happy at all. Does this mean that people can read more than a 2 line snippet and no longer need to visit my website? The current snippet is important as it perhaps gets potential customers hooked enough to visit. From there it's MY job to get people to stay, look around and perhaps buy from me.
Why the fuck should a SEARCH ENGINE, provide more than they need to, and potentially turn my customer away before they've reached the door?
John, If you don't like the amount of content from your site Google are including in your search results then exclude their robot from indexing your sites and remove your site from their indexes? They will happily do this.
On the other hand, they are probably your main source of new traffic and they don't charge you a penny! It sounds like you're getting a great deal.
... by having simple options to EXCLUDE (or include) the results from shopping sites and directories.
If the search I'm doing doesn't lead to a proper web site (and I don't consider a page that gives only information that looks like it has been stolen from the phone book or yellow pages to be a proper web site) then I'd rather be TOLD there are no proper pages matching my search than having to wade through a load of machine-cobbled directories to know that.
So it now gives you three lines instead of two. But look carefully and you'll see that instead of quoting three contiguous lines worth of your content, what you get is three lines worth of extracts (I bet you were wondering why the results are littered with ellipses), which probably won't make much sense unless whoever's performing the search actually takes the trouble to visit your site.
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