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Jul - Computers and Technology - Google annoyances and a way to get around them.. New poll - New thread - New reply
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VL-Tone
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Posted on 07-22-08 02:39:26 AM (last edited by VL-Tone at 07-21-08 11:40 PM) Link | Quote
Time: Now - Date: Today - Weather: What can be seen outside. - Mood: How it feels. Answer to the universe: 42
Some months/years ago, Google decided that it could be smarter than me and started to guess what I was "really" looking for, or so it thought.

And I'm not talking about the "do you mean:" feature.

First annoyance, that started not so long ago, but seems to get worse now:

Google decided to include plurals of words I am searching for, and include them in the search results. For example, if you search for Free Book, you'll find that a lot of results include the word "books" as plural, even pages that don't contain the singular form. But it goes farther than that, if you search for hd extern, Google will also return results for hd external. Though "extern" is a typo, it's just an example: maybe I was really looking for a hd movie player called "extern" and now I get unwanted results. A real world example for me would be when I'm looking for Director Xtra ("Xtra" being the name given to plug-ins in the application Director) I get results that include the word "extra" but not "xtra". Oh google you're so smart! /sarcasm

Annoyance number two:

Google started to do this more recently, it will split programming commands into individual words.

For example: before, searching for opendialogbox would only return pages that had to do with the use of the "opendialogbox" command in programming. Now, it will also return pages that contain "Open dialog box", mixed up with the results I want.

These two annoyances actually made me use Yahoo! for searching a couple of times!

I was about to write this post, just ranting about these annoyances, when I found the solution to both problems.

If you use the plus sign (+) right in front of a word in your search query, Google will keep it "intact", that means no plural or extended forms, and no splitting!

It's not ideal, I would love to have a way to disable all the so-called "smart search" features, but at least this trick works.

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Posted on 07-22-08 02:48:11 AM Link | Quote
I don't know, I think it makes sense. If you want to be specific, you can use quotes or the + sign, but sometimes the inclusion of plural forms and separations can help find what you're looking for. All it takes to disable it is a single character, or two if you're used to using quotes for it like I am. I don't see how it's that big a deal. Though I did not know that the + sign could be used for it too until just now, so thanks for that, though I probably won't use it. Quotes are just natural at this point.

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Posted on 07-22-08 02:53:23 AM Link | Quote
I think the way it works currently is how most people would prefer it, and that is what Google caters to.

For specific searches, you're supposed to use quotes or + regardless.

(Although I can see the reasoning behind adding an option for those who prefer it that way)

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Posted on 07-22-08 03:01:13 AM Link | Quote

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Metal_Man88
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I find myself outsearching people who use Google by using Yahoo.

Coincidence or not? Do I simply know search engines better or is there something to it?

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Posted on 07-22-08 03:09:44 AM Link | Quote
About your first rant, I don't think it's entirely google's fault. I believe Search Engine Optimization (which I find really dumb and think it should be blocked as much as possible) is at fault here. Some sites go as far as changing the way google sees them, that's why you get so many results like eg if you search for 'romhacks' you'll get results like "Here is the number 1 place to get romhacks. ... The best romhacks are at this page. romhacks videogames randomkeywords"
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Posted on 07-22-08 08:31:16 PM Link | Quote
My biggest problem with Google is what supposedly made them noteworthy in the first place: the backrub. I can't tell you how many times I search for something, with quotes, with +, whatever, and the page that comes up says "keywords only appear in links to this page."

If someone knows a way around that one, color me appreciative.
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Posted on 07-23-08 12:27:30 AM Link | Quote
Originally posted by GuyPerfect
My biggest problem with Google is what supposedly made them noteworthy in the first place: the backrub. I can't tell you how many times I search for something, with quotes, with +, whatever, and the page that comes up says "keywords only appear in links to this page."

If someone knows a way around that one, color me appreciative.
I've never seen that happen, what exactly are you talking about?

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Posted on 07-23-08 03:19:00 AM Link | Quote
He means exactly what he says, sometimes sites come up, and when you try for the cached version, it'll say "the term only appears in links to this page". Meaning the word that you searched for is not there, but it showed up anyway, that I do agree is annoying sometimes.

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Posted on 07-23-08 03:34:02 AM Link | Quote
I can't think of anything to write here.
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Originally posted by Kagome
Some sites go as far as changing the way google sees them, that's why you get so many results like eg if you search for 'romhacks' you'll get results like "Here is the number 1 place to get romhacks. ... The best romhacks are at this page. romhacks videogames randomkeywords"

I get those a lot... They are really annoying... Some actually go as far to make them "keywords that only appear to links to this page"

There are also other ones that are actually search engines themselves that search for stuff containing some of the words you wrote, with the others in the results...

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