Tag: search

Microsoft Offers Cash Back to Searchers, But for How Long?

May 21, 2008 Bob Caswell 6 Comments

More details are likely forthcoming shortly, as Microsoft plans to announce a big search initiative later today. But in the meantime, restless bloggers have already stumbled upon some particulars.

Microsoft’s “Live Search cashback” will pay you back 2 percent to 30 percent of the price of products you find (via Live Search) and purchase from online participating retailers. Notable merchants already signed up include Sears, Barnes & Noble, Office Depot, Home Depot, J&R Electronics, and others.

Internet, Microsoft, Tech News, Web 2.0

Search 1.0: Search Engines Still Lack Simple Features

February 4, 2008July 13, 2008 Bob Caswell 10 Comments

I have a sister who, over the weekend, pointed out a major shortcoming of search engines. It’s so obvious that I’m not sure why I didn’t think of it first. And keep in mind that this is my sister, which arguably boosts the creditability of this anecdotal story. That is, this isn’t some nerd’s dream come true; rather, she’s fairly representative of “regular” people trying to utilize the Internet practically. So here it is:

Why can’t you organize your results by date? And why don’t the search results themselves include the date each entry was published/updated?

Google, Internet, Microsoft, Web 2.0, Yahoo

The Easiest Way for Google to Improve Search

November 24, 2006August 19, 2008 Bob Caswell 1 Comment

The tech blogosphere is excited by the findings of Andy Boyd. He has a screen shot of a Google search that shows the search results giving up space for a separate section of blog results (see picture below). Among others, Techcrunch and Google Blogoscoped have their own take on what this means and where it could go.

Here’s my question: Why hasn’t Google done this already? And not only for blog searches but perhaps even for news, pictures, and/or video. The big three, for me at least, would be regular search results, blog posts, and news. I’d say that over half of my searches I do three times. Why not put in my search query once and get the top 10 results from each category on the same page?

Google, Internet, Microsoft, Tech News, Web 2.0, Yahoo

A Beginner’s Guide to Community Driven Web Content

November 20, 2006August 19, 2008 Bob Caswell 5 Comments

Back in the day (like two years ago), “browsing” the Internet for news and information was usually limited to using search engines for finding something specific you needed or checking out your favorite sources for the latest news and stories. But that was/is problematic for two reasons: 1) search engines are calculated and cold and don’t always lead you to what you want 2) sticking to a few favorite sources narrows your exposure to what’s really happening around the world both on and offline.

Do-It-Yourself Tech, Internet, Web 2.0