Difference between searches

The three sets of searches posted earlier shows how different the results can be. Out of the three searches, there was not one overlap of sites—all sites were unique. According to research commissioned by Dogpile "Different Engines, Different Results" most search engines return unique results. They sugest "the top search engines have built and developed proprietary methods for indexing the web and their ranking of keyword driven search differs greatly", which I think are driven by their account department to return the highest profit for the company by returning sponsored adds as search results.

Dogpile argues by combining search methods from several search sites they arer able to deliver a "comprehensive result set that bring the best results from the top engines to the first results page". (Different Engines, Different Results, 2007)

At first glance all search methods were equal in returning valid results but none were particularly exciting. I suspect this maybe due to the broad nature of the topic I chose to search.

• The meta search tools returned significantly less results that Google
• Dogpiles 4 out of the top 5 returns were paid ads on Goggle searches
• Clusty did not use the Google data base but returned very similar results
  

I found Dogpile search even less exciting as most of the results returned were sponsored adds from Google for sites that tended to be for commercials services. Not very helpful.

Overall, the searches from these three did not result in better quality information, it just a gave a broader response. (Are "Smarter" Meta-Searchers Still Smarter?, 2009)


Reference:
Are "Smarter" Meta-Searchers Still Smarter? (2008). Retrieved April 25, 2009, from http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/MetaSearch.html

Different Engines, Different Results. (2007). Retrieved April 20, 2009 from http://www.dogpile.com/rescuefctb/ws/metasearch/_iceUrlFlag=11?_IceUrl=true

Meta search results

Using a single search engine

Searching with Google on the words 'Australian photography' returned of about 2,680,000 results.

1. Australian Photography - Australia's Premier Photography Forum.
   
   www.ausphotography.net.au/
   
2. AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY MAGAZINE : Australian Photography is Australia's top-selling photographic magazine and its readers are increasingly skilled, ...
   
   www.isubscribe.com.au/title_info.cfm?prodID=241
3. The Australian Centre for Photography is a not-for-profit organisation that promotes photomedia-based art in Australia.
   
   www.acp.org.au/
4. Ken Duncan is famous for his landscape photography of Australia, panoramic photo & limited edition prints. Order from the online photo gallery or choose ...
   
   www.kenduncan.com/
5. Photography Forum, photo forum, Discuss Photography, Cameras,Australian Photographers and Photos.
   
   www.photoforum.com.au/

Using a meta search tool

Searching with Dogpile on the same words 'Australian photography' returned 65 results.

David Photo Video Sydney
12 yrs exp studio close to city Best price Top quality 02 95696666
Sponsored by: www.davidphotovideo.com.au/ • Found on Ads by Google
Aust Photography Magazine
Subscribe to Australian Photography and Save from Your Home of Mags
Sponsored by: www.MagNation.com/ • Found on Ads by Google
Gavin Blue Photography
17 years award winning experience Australia's corporate specialist
Sponsored by: www.gavinblue.com/ • Found on Ads by Google
Free and amazing nature photography from Australia
Unique and amazing Australian nature and landscape photography, stock photos, buy amazing Australian photography and photos. Some free.
www.photoshopaustralia.com/ • Found on Google, Yahoo! Search
Lachlan Burrell
Award-winning photography weddings portraits interiors
Sponsored by: lachlanburrell.com.au/ • Found on Ads by Google

Another meta search
Searching with Clusty on the same words 'Australian photography' returned top 223 of at least 434,500 results.

1. Australian Centre for Photography
   The Australian Centre for Photography is a not-for-profit organisation that promotes photomedia-based art in Australia.
   www.acp.org.au - [cache] - Live, Ask, Open Directory
2. Landscape photography Australia, Panoramic photo, Limited edition ...
   Ken Duncan is famous for his landscape photography of Australia, panoramic photo & limited edition prints. Order from the online photo gallery or choose corporate gifts to make a ...
   www.kenduncan.com - [cache] - Live, Ask
3. Port Douglas Wedding Photographer And Commercial Photography - Steve ...
   Port Douglas wedding and commercial photographer Steve Brennan is available for wedding and bridal photography in Port Douglas and Cairns as well as commercial photography ...
   www.australianphotography.com.au - [cache] - Live, Ask
4. Lightning Photography pictures photographs weather picture photos
   You might have seen pictures present in photography magazines or have watched movies, all of these pictures and videos are taken either form a digital camera or from ... Australian Early Warning Network
   www.lightningphotography.com - [cache] - Ask, Open Directory
5. Australian Nature Photography
   Your unique & frequently updated collection of Australian Nature Photography taken by Christopher Prins.
   photographybyprins.blogspot.com - [cache] - Live, Ask

Sorry about the inconstancy of the design in this page, I just copy an paste the information from the search engines and only did minimum tidy up.

Meta search

Boy have my eyes been opened.

I thought all search engines were basically the same with the only recognisable difference of the branding.

After reading about Meta search at UC Berkeley and then doing a Goggle search on 'Meta search' I found that Meta search combines search engines to refine your search. I had no idea that searching in different search engines gave different results and that these results very rarely overlap. (Different Engines, Different Results, 2007)

These results are still only as good as the search engines used by the meta search tool, and if the "underlying databases aren't good" then the results from the search will still be poor and waste your time. (Vine, 2004)

I like the idea of using these combined searches engines to give better results through a meta search and have now been converted to using these tools but I would still classified this as 'fast' data. (Curtin University of Technology, n.d.)

Recognizing the difference between searching methods is half the battle to locating information on the web quickly—I'm surprised searching skills are not taught at school.

Reference:
Different Engines, Different Results. (2007). Retrieved April 20, 2009 from http://www.dogpile.com/rescuefctb/ws/metasearch/_iceUrlFlag=11?_IceUrl=true

Vine, R. (2004). Some Cautionary Notes on Vivisimo. Retrieved 20 April, 2009, from http://www.workingfaster.com/sitelines/archives/2004_07.html#000222

Curtin University of Technology (n.d.). The challenge of 'fast' data. Retrieved April, 20, 2009, from http://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=%2Fbin%2Fcommon%2Fcourse.pl%3Fcourse_id%3D_14736_1%26sc%3D%252fwebapps%252fdiscussionboard%252fdo%252fmessage%253faction%253dlist_messages%2526conf_id%253d_23724_1%2526forum_id%253d_47938_1%2526message_id%253d_558527_1%2526thread_id%253d552622%2526nav%253ddiscussion_board%2526course_id%253d_14736_1