Here is a quote picked up in this thread on Slashdot:
Google searching “microsoft”: 39,500,000 results
Google searching “google”: 52,800,000 results
MSN searching “microsoft”: 80,139,835 results
MSN searching “google”: 648 results
I ran the test myself and got slightly different numbers. Here they are:
- “microsoft” via Google – 534,000,000 results
- “google” via Google – 782,000,000 results
- “microsoft” via MSN – 80,461,360 results
- “google” via MSN – 751 results
These results suggest two conclusions:
- MSN search results are tainted, and thus are less useful.
- Google indexes an order of magnitude more pages, and thus is more useful.
My name is Leonid Mamchenkov and this is my personal blog. Feel free to browse around and leave comments. You can learn more about me
Wow. That IS pretty lopsided. MSN really doesn’t seem to *like* Google. Golly. Wonder WHY. (laughing)
Why … hmm … tough question! :)
Google is also not so fair in competition:
http://jeremy.zawodny.com...bl.....08122.html
Igor,
I’m sure there is “unfairness” on all parties involved. Google though has maintaned it’s reputation so far. Even the example that you link to has a note that the page was corrected.
Thanks for the link anyway.
Leo,
I am not talking about reputation here. I am talking that in the business with big money like this everybody makes dirty tricks and Google is no exception, mo matter have they maintained their reputation or not.
Igor,
Few people care about dirty tricks, unless they affect them personally. Using the same design for the “upgrade your browser” page, from this point of view, is pretty innocent. Silly at beast, as this is easy to notice and easy to fix. Modifying search results without disclosing that they were modified and how they were modified is something I personall would mark as “are you nuts?!!!”. :)
Yes, you are right Leonid, it is dirty trick.Your dirty trick.
First, Google’s 534,000,000 is a total number of entries without omitted ones. Actual number of displayed entries is just 139. While MSN’s 751 is not number of displayed entries but number of pages. Actual number of displayed entries without omitted ones is more then 7000 (more then 70 pages multiplied by 10 entries per page).
Second, number of displayed entries for “Microsoft†from MSN is not 80,461,360. It is “886 pagesâ€.
Let, put everything what we know in one place:
“microsoft†via Google – 139 displayed results
“google†via Google – 295 displayed results (50% difference)
“google†via MSN – around 7140 displayed results
“microsoft†via MSN – around 8860 displayed results (20% difference)
These results suggest two conclusions:
1. Google search results are tainted, and thus are less useful.
2. MSN indexes an order of magnitude more pages, and thus is more useful.
Sorry, in second line I made a mistake. I wanted to say that Google’s 534,000,000 is a total number of entries with omitted ones.
Grigory,
You’ve also made another mistake: MSN’s 751 is the actual number of results, not pages – try going to the last page of the search results. And here is the last page of “google via google” results.
So – for “google” term it’s 76 pages in google and 72 pages in MSN. More or less the same…
Guys,
please note that you are talking about something that was posted more than two weeks ago, and that had a lot of hype on the web (Slashdot and everything).
I made another check of the results now, and they aren’t the same with what I saw last time.
Yes, my mistake.
And Alexei, try to check google.com (not .co.uk)
Let’s summarize current numbers (in pages).
Google.com searching “Google” – 30 pages
Google.com searching “Microsoft” – 14 pages
Google.co.uk searching “Google” – 74 pages
Google.co.uk searching “Microsoft” – 83 pages
MSN searching “Google” – 72 pages
MSN searching “Microsoft” – 89 pages
and pure results:
MSN.co.uk searching “Google” – 66,084,605 results
MSN.co.uk searching “Microsoft” – 82,841,160 results
No allegation against Microsoft, one potential against Google.
So, Leonid, it is not about numbers of Microsoft and Google. It is about unique feature of Open Source Community to constantly build allegation against Microsoft. And this feature really unique because you will not wake up tomorrow and read that Google uses dirty tricks because for “Microsoft†as it shows two times less entries. And Google really shows two times less entries for “Microsoftâ€.
Grigory,
First of all, as I said, the post is more than two weeks old and results are different now from what I have seen two weeks ago. Check the Slashdot story for more comments and numbers from other people. I wasn’t the only one who saw it.
Secondly, I don’t see how Open Source Community is even relevant here. I’ve heard allegations against Microsoft from a lot of people. Most of them had nothing to do with Open Source Community.