Yesterday, TechCrunch posted two more articles about the new search feature being bucket tested by Googe, which closely resembles social news site Digg. Google’s search test now includes comments as well.
For a video on the interface’s features: TechCrunch “Is This The Future Of Search?”
For more info: TechCrunch “Google Continues To Test A Search Interface That Looks More Like Digg Every Day”
Image Courtesy TechCrunch
According to TechCrunch, Google is testing a Digg-style search feature. Users can vote on a search result by clicking on an “up arrow” or an “x” to change the ranking. Apparently they can then change their vote at a later date or even suggest other sites that may be better results. The interface is currently in the “bucket-test” stage, meaning a random group of users is chosen to try it out. If successful, all users will be able to add the feature from an experimental area.
One of the major problems for web designers who want to create sites in Flash is the inability for search engine “spiders” to find the site and its contents. These searchbots can “read” but they cannot “see” anything inside an SWF file. Adobe has recently created a Flash player to allows search engines to convert the Flash file into a format the engine can read. Google has started using the software, and Yahoo is expected to introduce it shortly. The sites, though visible, still may not rank highly in search results.
According to an Adobe press release, “search engines already index static text and links within SWF files,” but the content is hard to detect because of its dynamic nature. The player can find text, but as yet cannot see images or video (although apparently it should make searching for that “non-textual content” easier, if text is also present)/
(Source: TechCrunch “Once Nearly Invisible to Search Engines…”)
(See the Adobe press release and Google’s Webmaster Blog for more detailed information)
Utilizing paid search in addition to traditional advertising, presidential hopefuls John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama have added a great deal to their campaigns. According to Google’s “political ad man” Peter Greenberger, McCain and Obama have been miles ahead of Clinton in incorporating
(Source: ClickZ “Clinton Needed More Search: Q&A with Google’s Greenberger”)
See also AdAge’s Q&A with Greenberger
