RELEVANT? More Often Than Not... NO
by Theresa Cahill 
Copyright 2004 
All Rights Reserved


This morning I'm combining one of my favorite activities
(catching up on my ezine reading) and one of my no-longer
favorite activities, trying to figure out the search
engines.

In doing so, I had a thought to check out a service that,
as ezine readers, we often see. I speak of the service
tinyurl.com, a good service where you can take those really
long links and tighten them up.

First let me start by saying it is a good service, and
based on how often I see them in use, you'd think a very
popular one, right?

Well, not according to Google...

I've been driving myself nuts over the last few months
trying to figure out, or stay ahead of, Google's algorithm
changes (and I dare say many of us are doing something
similar, yes?).

So, instead of looking at my website,
http://www.mywizardads.com, I decided to check out
something I was 100% positive would appear in its rightful
spot on Google, tinyurl.com

I typed in the following using my Google toolbar:

Keywords: Shorten url

No evidence of tinyurl.com in the 1st 10 pages of Google -
at least as of this writing (August 2004).

Keywords: tiny url

You’d think that would do the trick, right? Well you’d be
wrong.

One reference to an About article but not the website
itself, along with a geocities free website with an inside
page link to this service. No domain name in sight.

Keywords: how to shorten a long url

Finally, the site itself turns up on page three of Google,
but it's use and popularity suggest something isn't quite
right about this placement. And we all know what that is,
right?

Google suggests at that point that I type in:

Keyword: tinyurl

Only if I specifically typed in tinyurl (as one word) could
I find it listed in the Number 1 spot at Google. Well duh!

So, how relevant are your searches? If you're like me it's
becoming more and more a game of who's willing to pay for
placement (whether they belong there or not in most
circumstances), and those who've been working their little
fingers to the bone to be in the right spot, for the right
keywords to provide the right service.

Popular, oh yes! But is Google (or Yahoo or MSN, etc., for
that matter) currently the best way to get the best
results?

Evidence says no.

What I have found is that the obscure search engine (as
long as it is not "pa'id to place") returns the most
relevant results I'm looking for when I go hunting. There
are a ton of them out there (type in search engines at
Google and see for yourself, but if you're looking for 
the lesser-known ones, start at page 6 and higher, LOL!).

Someday it would be nice to see a mainstream search engine
tweak its algorithm to the point where both the keywords
and the content have something in common - and the returned
results are targeted.

I know it's impossible, but it sure would be nice to take
the insect out and put the human-touch back into search
engine searches.

I know I’d be able to locate what I’m looking for a heck of
a lot faster.

In the meantime, the frustration continues.

=======================================

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Theresa Cahill is the owner of My Wizard Ads
http://www.mywizardads.com and suggests that if you'd
really like to grab some of the internet billions, head on
over to: http://www.mywizardads.com/EB/ebay_how.html now!