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Universal Search – It’s not your father’s Google rankings
By Matt Keough | May 17, 2007
Google isn’t just messing with the user interface. They are making a BIG change in the philosophy of what constitutes relevant results on query by query basis. Marissa Mayer, VP Search Products & User Experience announced this yesterday at the Official Google Blog:
Over several years, with the help of more than 100 people, we've built the infrastructure, search algorithms, and presentation mechanisms to provide what we see as just the first step in the evolution toward universal search. Today, we're making that first step available on google.com by launching the new architecture and using it to blend content from Images, Maps, Books, Video, and News into our web results. With universal search, we're attempting to break down the walls that traditionally separated our various search properties and integrate the vast amounts of information available into one simple set of search results.
Marissa then lists her favorite queries, and Danny Sullivan has a great post. I decided to see what a search for “bass” returns. It is one of my favorite words and I knew Google would have fun dealing with several possible meanings. Did I mean the fish, the guitar, or the ale? I don’t know much about shoes, so they even broadened my horizons.
The new interface presents images (fish and guitars), products (mostly guitars) and videos (mostly bassists). There was even a mention of Lance if you look real close. Off to the right, you can see how definitions are presented. Did the 800 lb gorilla just have a midlife crisis?
Savvy search engine marketing professionals know it is unwise to obsess over your organic ranking on a search engine results page and build a business model entirely around that ranking. Many who have not embraced this model will have major heartburn today. The rest of us see another opportunity to adapt and have fun helping our clients succeed.
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May 22nd, 2007 at 12:25 pm
[…] believe it yet? We need to look no further than Google’s Universal Search announcement last week to realize that video is a MAJOR part of the future of […]