Which search engine is best suited for you?
August 9th, 2009
Google-y, Tech Takes, The Evil Empire, Yahoo-niverse
I came across this link on TechCrunch. (Actually, came across it as a retweet of the TechCrunch story by someone I follow on Twitter since I’m not subscribed to that site’s RSS feed.) It’s called the Blind Search Tool. (BTW, the site was made by a Microsoft engineer.) Basically, you search for a term and it shows you three different sets of results in column from three search engines – Google, Yahoo!, and Bing – in a random order (columns are shuffled randomly). Have a look at the search results, and then ‘vote’ for a search engine by click on the button for whichever result set you like best. Blind Search Tool then reveals which set is from which search engine.
To my surprise I found that I almost invariably found Yahoo!’s search results to be the best. But then again, your preferences of what is a ‘good search result’ could be different from mine. What this tool does is that it cuts out all the crap and makes you find out which search engine you really want. I mainly focussed on the top five search results, because quite frankly those are the ones which really matter. Which search engine did you find the best? Leave a comment!
(In case you choose Yahoo! Search too and want a lighter search page, then bookmark search.yahoo.com.)
The dust has settled regarding the news that Microsoft is buying out Yahoo!’s search division. In case you haven’t heard, Microsoft’s Bing search engine is going to replace the backend for Yahoo! search for a period of ten years; in return, Yahoo! Search Marketing will handle ad inventory for both the companies on their search properties. Yahoo!’s current CEO Carol Bartz has confirmed that frontend will still be Yahoo!-branded. This switchover will happen sometime in 2010. Details are still not clear on what will happen to services such as Yahoo! BOSS, Yahoo! SearchMonkey, Yahoo! SiteExplorer, etc (as Yahoo!’s Nicki Dougan told me on Twitter). Carol Bartz is taking seemingly good financial decisions for now; I wonder though whether being out of the search engine game for ten years will stunt Yahoo!’s growth a decade later. (I don’t think they’ll sink money into search R&D for the time being.) Unlike Jerry Yang, Carol Bartz’s heart doesn’t bleed purple and gold.
Yahoo! really screwed up under Terry Semel’s leadership. What else could you expect out of a former Hollywood exec? When Jerry Yang came back as CEO, Yahoo! gained back a lot of its technological advantage…but Yahoo! has failed at marketing its products properly. You may disagree on whether you find Yahoo! Search better or Google Search better, but as you’ll see on Blind Search Test, Yahoo! is at least better than Bing. Despite that, Bing traffic grew by leaps and bounds after its launch purely on the foundation of Microsoft’s marketing.
Personally, the only bit I liked about Bing was the preview of the destination page which you get on hovering over a result. The photos on the front page are nice – although nothing you can’t get on Flickr. Oh, and their logo looks as if it was made in Microsoft Paint. 
Originally posted at Youthpad.
Tags: Youthpad
Vote or Die!
May 7th, 2009
Google-y, Mad Ads, Stop The Press, The Idiot Box, Vidddeos, Yahoo-niverse
Today is the day to vote, people (staying in Delhi)! Let’s do better than Mumbai, shall we? (Gaaa! I won’t be able to vote since my name is not on the electoral lists yet.) I posted this earlier, but I feel it’s necessary to repeat this message from Puff Daddy on the importance of voting.
A lot of campaigns have been launched in India for the election process. Google India launched a site dedicated to information on the Lok Saba 2009 elections in association with Hindustan Times. One of the most energy-filled – and irritating jingle-filled campaigns – has been the Pappu Doesn’t Vote campaign, brainchild of Delhi electoral officer Satbir Bedi. Tata Tea is laughing all the way to the bank over the success of its Jaago Re ad campaign, which is reported to have excellent brand recall. FM channels have played their part too (apart from the irritating Pappu jingles). Times of India jumped into the fray too with its Lead India campaign.
The least Times of India could have done is to come up with a their own idea for Lead India. Check out this TVC called Kuch Nahi Ho Sakta…
…and compare it to the American Don’t Vote campaign…
The only difference that I see is that the Indian version has ham acting, but let’s forgive these people as they are not talented. What’s left to rip-off then – Declare Yourself?
Actor Vinod Tiwari (the guy in Jaago Re ads) seems to have got a theka from God-ji to to star in all ad campaigns even remotely related to voting. He’s the poster boy for the No Criminals campaign, Too bad he’ll probably be out of work for the next five years then. What would be interesting to see is how many of these websites (US or Indian) are around uring the time of the next elections. Then we’ll know that corporate India cares about these things rather than just trying to piggy-back on a ‘charitable’ cause.
Who am I supporting this election (even though I can’t vote)? There’s no doubt it’s Congress. Congress might have done wrong things in the past but if you’re talking about now they are the most sensible party of all. Can you imagine Mayawati sitting across the table with Barack Obama in a global leaders summit? There’s a reason why Pakistan walks away with so many lollipops from the global community and India remains furiously indignant – and that’s because our neighbours across the border have more smooth-talking heads of state. (George Dubya sure must have found understanding Musharraf easier than Pranab Mukherjee.)
Besides, BJP is the only viable alternative available (let’s not kid ourselves. ‘Third Front’ / ‘Fourth Leg’ / ‘Fifth Hand’ whatever is a myth) and I definitely do not want them to come to power. They speak as if the economic situation would have been any better had they been in power. It’s a global recession dammit! For LK Advani’s online advertising campaign alone BJP is spending Rs 230 crores on Google AdSense (I came across the data in a newspaper, but couldn’t track down the link right now). I even saw LK Advani ads on TechCrunch once. Since AdSense slots are sold on an auction basis, BJP must be placing ridiculously high prices to outbid everyone else and get itself display on a high-traffic website like TechCrunch.
Yo maan, just look at him - trying to act like a rap star and instead coming across as so fucking retarded
The level of maturity they show with nothing but pure rhetoric attacks makes me feel glad that we have a D.Phil from Oxford and an MBA from Harvard at the helm managing financial matters in these difficult times. Besides, if Congress loses or an unstable coalition is formed, then stock market is going to take a sharp dive. Not good for currency exchange rates.
Oh, and if you want to stay up-to-date with all news on Indian Lok Sabha elections 2009 check out Yahoo! India’s website on it. It features comprehensive news coverage from various media, quick facts about parties, videos, manifestoes, quotes, et al. Don’t miss the ‘Compare Manifesto’ feature! And those who can – get out there and vote!
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