This article was published 16 years ago
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Google’s search superiority makes it invaluable

Is it possible to live a week without Google? Absolutely not.

Google is involved in many of our lives.  Some use Gmail as their main email provider while others have replaced Microsoft Office Word and Office Excel with Google Docs and Google Spreadsheets.  If Google decided to close because of a weak economy, everyone would be in trouble.

To prove this point about how Google’s search algorithm is much better than the other search engines, I tried not using Google for a week.  I used Yahoo!, Ask.com and Windows Live Search instead.

Depending on what you’re searching for, other search engines can do the same job as Google.  But for more complex search items, you might want to stick with Google.

For example, I had a problem adding my MP3s to the new version of iTunes 8.  Using the terms “iTunes 8 won’t add MP3.”  Yahoo did not show the results I was looking for.  The first link was to download iTunes 8 on download.com.  The second link was to a news article on iTunes 8 crashing Windows Vista for some users. The third link was to a news story on Amazon adding DRM-free MP3 links.  Scrolling down the list came up with the same information stated above, links to Apple store and Amazon launches MP3 store.

The same results were displayed when using Windows Live Search and Ask.com as well.

Using the same search term for Google, two answers for the search term were displayed on the fifth and sixth link.
My experiment ended in one day.  It became very frustrating to look for answers to the search term.

Even though Google didn’t answer my specific question, the results were superior to Yahoo, Ask.com and Windows Live Search.

Some Web sites depend on Google to search for them because it produces better results. Using the search terms “Gregory Schultz lsureveille.com,” Google displayed all three articles I’ve written.  Ask.com displayed two and Yahoo and Windows Live Search displayed one article.

Even though other search engines can’t generate good search results like Google does, some are gaining ground on Google.

News articles are being displayed on Yahoo!, Ask.com and Windows Live Search — a feature Google has had for a while now.

All the search engines displayed news items when using the terms “iTunes 8 won’t add MP3.”  Examples ranged from a list of what’s new in version 8 to users complaining that iTunes 8 crashed Windows when users plugged in the iPhone.

The Internet community has discovered how to bomb Google with false positives when specific terms are used.
The most noticeable incident was when bloggers added miserable failure tags to their blog posts when talking about President Bush. Google fixed the “miserable failure” bomb, while Ask.com still links the White House’s Web site when “miserable failure” is entered.

Seeing how many Google results are displayed compared to other search engines is laughable.  And it’s hysterical how other search engines are still competing with Google.

From the results of this experiment, Google is the clear winner.

This column appeared in the Daily Reveille newspaper on Friday, September 26, 2008 called "Google's search superiority makes it invaluable"