
In defense of Google. And, more importantly, the user. - richoakley
http://richoakley.com/post/15664881511/in-defense-of-google-and-more-importantly-the-user
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entropyneur
_We all know very well that social context is the next revolution in web
search_

I honestly would like to see some actual argument supporting this beyond
"search was revolutionary, social was revolutionary, therefore social search
will be revolutionary". At least a couple of examples where the social context
adds value would go a long way.

I just hope Google has some data internally which suggests that these changes
improve result quality and not doing this merely to catch up with the latest
buzzwords.

~~~
Nickste
I think the Google Search, plus Your World explanatory video has some pretty
concrete examples on how social can improve search:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8Z9TTBxarbs)

I especially like the example of Chikoo - a type of fruit, but also the name
of someone's dog. By Google knowing that you and your family have a bunch of
photos with Chikoo in the caption, it will show you those pictures instead of
the fruit.

My dog's name is Milo: <http://www.google.co.za/search?q=milo>

~~~
cageface
This seems like an echo chamber counter-example to me. I know where to look
for photos of my dog. I Google for things I don't already know.

~~~
ZeroGravitas
I think Google would be quite happy if you also used them to get to things
that you already know how to locate in another manner. It might be easier for
you too. For example, I find even myself searching for partial urls on Google
rather than type them in full on my phone.

It's one more opportunity to gather info and display targetted ads after all.

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buff-a
_No; the issue isn’t the functionality - it’s the fact that it’s Google’s own
product that is being pushed._

I thought the issue was that when searching for an article it gave greater
prominence to people from ones circles talking about the article than the
article itself. As much as I value my friends' experience, I'd like to read
the article myself, and maybe see their opinion appear lower down, if at all.

Anyway. I've switched my browser default search to duckduckgo and its working
quite well.

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danmaz74
I just wish that Google will include in the social search everything that they
got access to. That's the only way that this thing won't be evil.

By the way, I think that social search is very overrated. But I might be
wrong.

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jerrya
I think this could mean either a threat or buy out opportunity for Greplin.

