One Minute Ramble: Searching, Ever Searching…


Sigh.

I don’t know what’s happened with the ‘world’s favourite search engine’ of late, but it has, in my humble opinion, become a trifle rubbish.

I think of somebody who I haven’t seen for many a year, and just do a quick ol’ search of their name and notice in the returned results that their surname has been struck through with the word ‘missing’ added. The same with their first name… but I have many results returned for, say, tables made out of oak, which had absolutely nothing to do with what I was searching for in the first place. If I’d have known that I was going to get rubbish back, I’d rather have saved my time than searching in the first place.

Mutter. Grumble. Gripe.

I read recently that this is because ‘they’ don’t just want to do a straightforward search, but want to do a ‘conversational’ search instead. For me, that’s pointless too. If I want to search for something, I just want to search for it, and not bother knowing what the search engine is doing that evening, or how the weather is in their part of the world.

If there’s nothing listed for what I search for, I’d rather just be told that and nothing else… I can then try a different approach.

Is that too much to ask for in this day and age?

(By the way, I wouldn’t mind as much if the results were humorous… but tables made out of oak???!!!)

(By the way again, all names have been redacted / extracted / removed from this post just so they do not appear in any search results. Although they probably wouldn’t have anyway!)

(And by the way – if you or any search engines out there are interested, it was a wonderfully gorgeous Spring Day today. Absolutely fabulous!)


12 responses to “One Minute Ramble: Searching, Ever Searching…”

  1. bcparkison avatar

    Now see? There is something not right about this system. We know “they” know everything.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Tom Merriman avatar

      And they know, Beverly, that we know they know, but they also know that we know nothing…

      Like

  2. aFrankAngle avatar

    Know the feeling … then again, technology likes to think it knows what we want.

    PS: Here’s a challenge for you to consider. https://afrankangle.wordpress.com/if-challenge/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom Merriman avatar

      I shall be looking out for it, Frank. And, I’ve just checked, so I know I’m not too late! 😀

      Liked by 1 person

  3. -Eugenia avatar

    I’m concerned “they” know what we want before we do. lol

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom Merriman avatar

      They also know how concerned we are about that as well, Eugenia…

      Like

  4. calensariel avatar

    It’s just bloomin’ maddening, isn’t it, Tom… I don’t have time to waste (usually) when I get on here. It doesn’t serve the users very well. Dictionary.com/Thesaurus.com have been screwing around with their stuff, too. If it’s not broken, why fix it???

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom Merriman avatar

      “They” say progress, Calensariel. They don’t listen to what we say…

      Liked by 1 person

  5. prenin avatar

    Not surprising Tom.

    The system is set up to make money through advertising, the search function just becoming another way to monetise our use of the ‘free’ service…

    God Bless!

    Prenin.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom Merriman avatar

      I never click a sponsored link, Prenin… not when there’s another one just below (that is, when they return what I was looking for in the first place!) 😀

      Liked by 1 person

  6. thecobweboriumemporium avatar

    There’s a little nerdy ‘trick’ one can do to get around all those results which don’t contain the information you’re asking for … but the problem with this is that it could leave you open to being searched yourself, by someone who might not have your best interests at heart, so I won’t share this publicly. But you’re an intelligent chap and if you do a little searching yourself, you might come up with answer. There is a way of doing it though.
    C.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom Merriman avatar

      I haven’t figured it out yet, Cobs. I’ve tried searching for it, but got no results. Gah!!! 😯 😉 😀 Hehehe!

      Liked by 1 person

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