In Defence of Google Web Search

Nowadays it is common to complain about the accuracy of Google web search results (not image search as I have done in my earlier post). Most of the people complaining about Google web search are SEO types and those who have been affected by sudden lack of Google love.

In reality, with all its faults, Google is still doing the best web search job on this planet. It is extremely hard to produce accurate search results with such enormous data and where people are everyday deliberately trying to pollute the results to their benefits. And Google is doing an admirable job at it. It is still leagues ahead of nearest competitors like Yahoo and Microsoft.

Frankly I challenge anyone complaining to come up with a better and fair search algorithm. With Alexa’s web search platform the cost of entry has lowered significantly. However we are still to see any new worthwhile contenders.

PS. The capability of Google web search doesn’t translate to its capability in image or news search, both of which I think are rather sub-standard. However the focus of this article is Google web search only.

I think Google web search has almost become an utility service like electricity or cable.