Can Google Even Get Search Right?

Maybe it’s a mix of over engineering and distraction that has hit Google.

• You can’t find what you really are looking for (unless you’re a power user). Yes, Google’s algorithm seems so sophisticated it can find a pin in a haystack but they take people to locations on based on what people write, not what people mean – they fail to take you to the information you really want to get to. Try the phrase nokia for sale new york. Are the results what the average web user expects?
• Google loves blogs. Google doesn’t love blogs because of some creative, witty democratic wave of citizen journalism. They love them because blogs carry their AdSense advertising network. Google search appears to be biased towards blog content because it fits their business model.
• Google can’t handle blogs. Blogs cut and dice content is multiple ways through categories and tagging, Google can’t seem to cope with this. I’m sure more than one reader has been frustrated with the Google-powered Search box on PSFK – you can never seem to find a specific article – instead Google sends you to a Category page which contains two years worth of content. Try Treehugger Hearts Walmart, Guardian Future or Interview Craig Newmark. (In fact we had to put a NO-GOOGLEBOT tag in our monthly archives as the results used to be even more vague).
• Google can’t handle blogs (2). Dynamic content confuses Google. Every blog has a list of hyperlinks to the recent comments or trackbacks on their site. Google can’t distinguish this from blog post content. Try looking for our most popular current page using ‘Joga Bonito‘. Well done Google – you get the first result right. What the hell are the other results doing there? (They’re there because those pages featured were indexed while a link in the side bar pointed to comments on the Joga Bonito page).
• Google can’t index passworded pages. For about forever Google has told us that they will introduce the ability for Google to search passworded pages to help users find even more content. Sounds good to us with IF!. But this technology – which can’t be that difficult – has never been released. Meanwhile, Google have spent 20% of their time to release bollocks like this.

Someone told us recently that BMW was in danger as a company as they had spent so much time making the optimum ride for the engineers rather than their customers (We tried to find an article on it, but this search failed to bring anything up). We’re just wondering if Marissa & co at Google are in danger of doing the same.