When I started to use Google (ten years ago or thereabouts) I was fed up
with other search engines working badly by trying to "pilot" finds.
I said to myself, at the time: "as long as Google stays with its promise
not to be warped by commercial interests or other selfish influences,
this is it. But if they ever fail me... there are alternatives."
So far, so good. But I am beginning to have some doubts.
Of course with any search engine, including Google, it takes some
tweaking with keywords to get anywhere that isn't immediately
straightforward. And many messy problems are caused by poorly organised
websites (especially the big ones) not by the search engine. But that is
the way it is, the only solution is for us to learn how to search better.
(Sometimes I feel nostalgic of the old "boolean operators" - but that's
another story).
My perception is that Google isn't as good as it was. As far as I can
see, there are three possible reasons (or maybe a combination of more
than one).
1. The net has become so big that the mess is unavoidable.
2. They are trying to be "intelligent" and to "guess" our priorities -
and of course that creates more problems than it can possibly solve
(though I deliberately never use the "I am feeling lucky" option).
3. They are beginning to be "corrupted" - and in that case the time has
come to drop them.
So far, the problems aren't big enough to make me "break the habit". But
for the sake, maybe, of a bit of experimenting... which alternatives do
you wizards think are the best?
Cheers
Giancarlo
