Microsoft beats google in facebookdeal

[Dodece]

toadslayer72 said:

Dodece said:
Speaking honestly both Bing and Google aren't particularly impressive, and neither is better then the other. They are fairly generic as far as their capabilities are concerned. You will almost always get the same results from both, and it is always in the blink of an eye. Which is how Google became so popular to begin with. It wasn't something bizarre it just used to get the results to you faster then older search engines. Which isn't the problem anymore. Most search engines are damned near instant.

Google isn't preferred, because it is superior. It just became a habit. As someone who tries to get the most out of search engines, because I often end up searching for pretty obscure things. I have found that Yahoo is actually the best. The home site has a lot more services, and the search engine has more advanced options. For fine tuning searches. That isn't to say that it is the only search engine I use.

I will change between Bing, Google, and Yahoo to get different results, but I will also hit Lycos or Ask if the going gets tough. Now those engines are more old school. They don't want to give you the most popular results. They look for whatever is actually the best match. Sometimes that is good, and sometimes it takes you someplace scarey.

Anyway it all seems like a pointless argument. How the hell could anyone become dependent on these engines. When they are likely ninety nine percent the same. As far as most users are concerned.

@ bolded, I am 100% guilty of this.

 

Also, the rest of this post makes me realize that I too should be using multiple search engines because there are times when I'm pretty disappointed with the results. Hey would you mind giving me some more details on when you use who and why. I mean you don't have to reveal anything uncomfortable (like who to use to find out how to best jerk-off a dog) and you can send me a PM if you'd like. Your post just made me realize how much of a noob I've been for so long, thanks.

I would be glad to share my personal methodology. I personally use a tiered approach. Which isn't a topic based approach, but which engine will most likely get the job done. Based on three criteria, and those are rarity, reliability, and specificity. Rarity refers to how common the information is. Reliability is about how reputable the sources provided will be. Specifity refers to your scope of inquiry.

I personally use five tiers. The top tier is for the easiest searches to run. While the bottom tier is reserved for next to impossible results, and thus information that is near impossible to find. For the first tier Yahoo, Bing, and Google are the best search engines. When specificity and rarity aren't the major concerns. Then the only thing that matters is how reputable the links that will be provided are. These search engines almost always produce the highest quality credible source. You ideally want to be getting whatever it is from say the Wall Street Journal rather then a hobbyist blog.

Tier two is where you need to exclude some common search results, because they are too broad for your purposes. For this you need advanced options that will still get you the most reputable sources, but will also allow you to pass over more general results. I find that Yahoo is the best, because it has advanced options that will allow you to exclude specific wording.

Tier three is where you are looking for specific wording, or have a very specific question that you want to get answered. You want a search engine that has the advanced options that will allow you to do this. Which means Yahoo is preferrable. It not only has the options to let you do the search yourself, but if you want to present it in the form of a question. Chances are that Yahoo Answers may have the answer, and sometimes the respondents on those will provide links to follow to a reasonable source for the information. This here is like the best advice I can give you. This tool is incredibly effective at cutting down on leg work.

Tier four is where you are looking for older information that was time specific, or relevant to the time it was written. Which may be upwards of a decade ago, and Yahoo, Bing, and Google are far too relevant, far to recent, and not nearly weildy enough to do the job. These search engines only look for dates in the whole body of a site, and those dates aren't necessarily connected to the subject you are trying to get at. For these kinds of searches you need search engines like Lycos or Ask. They are more apt to give you a specific page that contains both pieces of information. So it is easier to data mine in old forums, abandoned blogs, and disused archives.

Tier five searches are actually blind searches. You know the information you need is probably obscure, outdated, or currently irrelevant. You need to create a general understanding to refine your search. The top tier engines will give you the best information initially, because the sources they will provide are almost always the best even if they aren't specific, and once you use them to get a working framework of knowledge and terminology. Then you can go into the lower tiers to find data in the raw. Which could be used to refine your searches enough in top tier engines which might find you a site that is currently supported.

Anyway you shouldn't think in terms of best. You should think of search engines as different tools for different jobs.