Seriously, there was a time when Google seemed to know what I meant when I searched for something. It was kind of uncanny but damn was it useful.
These days when I specifically enter a set of search terms, it is not just not unheard of but quite common that Google will present me not just with search results that DON'T include one or more of my terms but actually the opposite of my terms.
Maybe I got older and missed changes in how Google works... possible. It's just at this point Google is nothing more than
I have the same problem with searching something on Amazon. I'd say that 95% of the time, the words I'm searching for aren't even in the items descriptions. Annoying as fuck to be searching for something very specific and then be shown things that aren't even in the same category at all.
Yeah, i used sire: for a while, but eventually decided it didn't make enough difference to be worth the effort of typing (and remembering)
Not like the old days when all the advanced google syntax would actually let you rapidly dial-in the results. Seems like their advanced options languished one they got decent natural-language search, and then their natural language search went rapidly downhill too.
Google is close to useless (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously, there was a time when Google seemed to know what I meant when I searched for something. It was kind of uncanny but damn was it useful.
These days when I specifically enter a set of search terms, it is not just not unheard of but quite common that Google will present me not just with search results that DON'T include one or more of my terms but actually the opposite of my terms.
Maybe I got older and missed changes in how Google works... possible. It's just at this point Google is nothing more than
Re: (Score:5, Informative)
I have the same problem with searching something on Amazon. I'd say that 95% of the time, the words I'm searching for aren't even in the items descriptions. Annoying as fuck to be searching for something very specific and then be shown things that aren't even in the same category at all.
Re:Google is close to useless (Score:4, Insightful)
I've often found it easier to find something specific on Amazon, by searching Google, DuckDuckGo, etc. with "amazon.com" in the search terms.
Re: (Score:2)
I have the same experience. Ditto with other sites like Home Depot, Walmarts, etc.
Site:Slashdot.org (Score:2)
The syntax site:homedepot.com does precisely what you want on Google.
For example, search immerman site:Slashdot.org
Leaving off the "site:" will include somw results that aren't on the site you're looking for, though typically it doesn't make a huge difference.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, i used sire: for a while, but eventually decided it didn't make enough difference to be worth the effort of typing (and remembering)
Not like the old days when all the advanced google syntax would actually let you rapidly dial-in the results. Seems like their advanced options languished one they got decent natural-language search, and then their natural language search went rapidly downhill too.
Re: (Score:2)
> Yeah, i used sire: for a while
I didn't even know they had syntax for Lancelot! Cool.
Re: (Score:2)
Or is it genealogy?