Head to Head on Blended Search

August 14, 2007 Comments

Jennifer Laycock

Jennifer Laycock

Articles

Ask and Google have both been blending up search results from each of their vertical engines for a little while now. As of this past week, Yahoo is joining the fray. With blended search results thought to be the next frontier in terms of serving users the content they desire, the question may shift from who has the best algorithm to who has the best blended search interface. Lisa Barone over at the Bruce Clay blog puts the three systems to the test.

Lisa makes the engines go head to head on queries related to music, sports, maps and travel. Since I share Lisa's passion for Rascal Flatts (hey Lisa, they're from Columbus!), I'll pull that snippet.

Music:

If you've stalked me on any one of the various social networking sites, you know that I'm heart is filled with the glorious sounds of Country music. (I know, it's very odd for a girl from Long Island to be such a Country fan, but you can't help who you love, right?) And my Country group of choice? That would be the always awesome Rascal Flatts.

  • Ask.com: Even if I didn't already love Ask, their result for this query would be enough to do it. Ask.com clearly understands my Rascal Flatts love and is attacking this query from all angles. First there is the Rascal Flatts Smart Answer that comes complete with relevant links, such as their Official Site, ringtones, audio files, concert tickets, and other info. Then the 3D component kicks in, giving me a selection of images, sound clips coming from iLike, event listings and a seriously impressive Narrow and Expand Your Search option. This is perhaps the most beautiful page I have seen. I don't even want to leave. But I have to. It's time for Google.

  • Google : Okay, Google sucks. I'm sorry, but this is not an impressive result. A picture so small I can barely make it out and a (non-clickable) list of some of their albums and songs? I'm bored.

  • Yahoo: Yahoo has come up with a solid Music Shortcut that seems to mix what both Google and Ask are offering. It may not be as extensive as Ask's, but Yahoo does give users video clips. Yahoo's focus seems to be not so much on giving users everything on one page, but giving you a taste of all the different Yahoo properties and encouraging you to follow a link off the page and explore them. In other words, it's all very Yahoo.

Who does Music better? Ask.com. No contest.

In four battles, Ask comes out ahead. (Now if only they'd quit making fools of themselves with their ad campaigns...)

Honestly, I'm not surprised. Back when I first tried out the new integrated search results at Ask, I came to the same conclusions as Lisa.

I'm still rooting for you Ask. Please just stop putting chicks with swords and D-level eye candy into your ad campaigns and everything will be ok.

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Search Engine Guide > Jennifer Laycock > Head to Head on Blended Search

Jennifer Laycock is the Editor of Search Engine Guide, the Social Media Faculty Chair for MarketMotive and offers small business social media strategy & consulting. Jennifer enjoys the challenge of finding unique and creative ways to connect with consumers without spending a fortune in marketing dollars. Though she now prefers to work with small businesses, Jennifer’s clients have included companies like Verizon, American Greetings and Highlights for Children.



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