How do we get unbiased search engine results from Google and the like?
Asked by
Siren (
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)
October 27th, 2009
I have found it increasingly difficult to get unique and different web site results from Google without seeing an obvious bias towards some similar (or the same!) sites. Have you had a similar experience with this search engine or another one you are using? Is it the cause of the search engine, or the fact that one entity/company/organization is clogging the engine using their high optimization skills?
If this is not a universal situation among all search engines, can you suggest some good alternatives to Google?
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11 Answers
Check out Bing.
EDIT: A link would help. http://www.bing.com/
I personally get the same results as google.
@Siren Invoke more parameters, whichever engine you use. Use ‘advanced search’ , personalized settings, specific time ranges, maybe, even specific document types. Play with all that and you begin to breakdown the ‘pageranked’ aspects of Google Search or the equivalent of that with each other engine.
@virtualist: Thanks for the tip. I figured there was a way to get around seeing the same site listed 50 times before you get to some other search options….arrgghhh
@Grisaille: I will check out Bing. Would like to see what all the (commercial) hype is about too. Never hurts to use different search engines. I just got kind of lazy lately.
I don’t find I have that problem, but I may be a more advanced Google user than others.. I have a weird knack for knowing just the right keywords, which generally gives me the best sites at the top, no bias that I’ve ever noticed.
As @virtualist said, power/boolean searching works wonders, even outside of “advanced search”. Check out this article on how to introduce characters into searches and achieve better results.
I use a lot of advanced searches, but still end up coming up with crap results a lot. :P
@Grisaille: Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.
Google does not organize their their sites by hits alone. Their algorithm is proprietary and from observation alone, left leaning. I’m not looking for opinion when I search for information; not right leaning or left leaning. I just want a concise reporting of fact without using words like “scheme” in place of “plan” if it doesn’t fits the “reporter’s” agenda. I can make my own judgement. God gave each of us a brain. I would ask all of us to use it. Don’t let someone else tell you how you should feel about a topic. Investigate for yourself, but for that we need a source of unbiased reporting.
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