Search News

Search Switching

For some time now I have been speaking and writing about ways of speed searching and search switching. Somehow, I've neglected to add the links to my site. So I'm fixing that tonight, before my presentation on Wed. at CIL 2008. The new Search Switching page includes sections for Search Switching Between Web Search Engines, Geographic Search Switching, Book Search Switching, and other options including another link to my Bookmarklets page (with its search transfer bookmarklets).

See also my article, "Speed Searching," in the March 2008 issue of Online (available for fee at ITI's InfoCentral or free from many library databases such as AccessMyLibrary) and my article, "Switching Your Search Engines," from the May 2007 issue of Online (available from many library databases including AccessMyLibrary).

Related Searches Moving Up?

So maybe I missed this earlier, but today is the first time I noticed Google showing related search suggestions at the top of Google results. In this case, I just happened to run on search for talking heads, trying to get an example of integrated content. While it worked for that, it also gave this one line of "Related searches:" at the very top. This is the first time that I can recall seeing this at the top.

Whether this is just one of Google's many user interface tests that may just run a short time or may continue and be seen at more searches, I don't know. Maybe it only shows up for music groups, although it did not for a few other searches I just tried. So far, the only other search I found that showed "Related searches:" was beatles. Anyone else seeing this?

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Language Limit Showdown

In recent months I have been speaking and writing about some of the language search and translation features of the search engines. Which search engine has the most language limits? Which online translator has the most language pairs? And which ones offers translated search? (Exalead, Yahoo!, and Google, respectively). So I've added a new Language Search Tools page, with links to pages about Language Limits, Online Translation, and Translated Search. I have also finally made a major update to my Search Engines by Search Features page and linked the language page from there.

For many searchers, especially those of us in the middle of a fairly mono-lingual part of the U.S., the language tools may have little appeal, but even in the midst of Montana, I still find times that I come across a non-English site, email, or term that can benefit from the use of these tools.

Yahoo! Face Change

The main Yahoo! page has cleaned up and re-emphasized its search box. The whole top inch or so of the page has a new look.

Similar to the cleaner, pared down page at search.yahoo.com, and reminiscent of some other well-known search engine, it is a pleasing change. The main page still has plenty of portal content below the search box:

Contrast that with the old look that had the logo on the left and additional buttons and boxes. See the Google Blogoscoped post for a series of home page screenshots over time. I still wish that News was one of the choices above the box instead of having it hidden under "more." Otherwise I find the new look to be easier to use and cleaner than the old.

Updated Bookmarklets

I've updated my search bookmarklets page due to changes from some of the search engines including Gigablast's new interface, finally changing msn.com to live.com in the code, and the addition of several new links:

• An animated .gif of the search transfer bookmarklets
• Moving the search transfer bookmarklets to the top
• A new bookmarklet for numbering Yahoo! results
• Updating the bookmarklet for numbering Google results
• Gigablast and Exalead search box links

The search transfer bookmarklets are the ones that I use the most to quickly switch from one search engine to another with the same search query. It has been interesting seeing how the bookmarklet functionality changes over time even when I do not change the underlying JavaScript of the bookmarklet. For the past several months, I could use the Yahoo! bookmarklet after a Google, Ask, or Live search, but I could not use any others after a Yahoo! search. Now those bookmarklets work again. So at the moment, I am only have a problem using them after a Gigablast or Exalead search.