The Mother of All Search Functions

I subscribe to some emails that I get weekly, one is from David Pogue. He is a tech columnist for the NY Times. Before he did that he wrote for one of my favorite magazines MacWorld. I even bought a couple of his books when I was learning how to use my iMac and wanted to learn about all things Mac. His weekly email is a version of his NY Times column. This week he shared something that I myself have been using very frequently and I imagine that you have been using it too: Google search. Have you heard of it? Read on.
(source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/technology/personaltech/25pogue-email.html?8cir&emc=cira1)

"September 25, 2008

From the Desk of David Pogue


The Mother of All Search Functions

By DAVID POGUE

Today's e-column is nothing but a computer tip, but it's a biggie. It seems obvious in retrospect, but I've got to tell you, it's totally rocked my world:

Use Google search for everything.

Let me explain.

Every major Web site has its own Search box and Search button. The Times. Amazon. EBay. IMDB.com. Wikipedia. YouTube. Facebook. And so on.

But usually, that Search function is not as good as the mother of all Search functions--Google. And it's definitely not as quick, since you have to navigate to the site you want (YouTube, Amazon, whatever) before you can use its internal Search box. But why bother, since Google already searches within all those sites?

Used to be, when I wanted to look up a Times movie review, I'd go to nytimes.com/movies; hunt around for the proper Search box (there are two now; there used to be more) for searching the archives; type the movie title; and click Search. Four steps.

Used to be, when I wanted to consult Wikipedia, I'd go to Wikipedia.org; I'd click English; I'd click in the Search box; I'd type "blu-ray"; and click Search. Five steps.

Used to be, when I wanted to look up a movie on IMDB.com (the ever-wonderful Internet Movie Database), I'd go to that site; type in the name of the movie; click Search; look over the results; click the actual movie name. Five steps.

Used to be, when I wanted to look up a book on Amazon, I'd go to Amazon.com, click in the Search box, type the book name, then click its name in the results list. Four steps.

And it used to be, when I wanted to call up one of my own blog posts, I'd go to nytimes.com/pogue; click in the "Search this blog" box; type a keyword; and click Search. It usually comes up empty-handed (it doesn't even find search terms in the blog posts' titles), and I'd try a different keyword until I got frustrated. 100 steps.

And so on.

I've been totally wasting my time. Google blows all of this out of the water.

Now, when I want the Times movie critic's review, I type "ny times shrek" into the Google box and click the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button. BOOM! I'm reading the review. Two steps.

When I want an IMDB page, I type "groundhog day" and click "I'm Feeling Lucky." WHAM! I'm looking at that movie's IMDB.com page. Two steps.

When I want to search my own blog, I type "pogue blog tivo" and click "I'm Feeling Lucky." Presto! I'm reading the post. Two steps.

In other words, there's very little point in using the Search box within your favorite sites. Use Google to take you to that site and to the page you want within it. Works for Amazon ("amazon freakonomics"), ebay ("ebay delft figurine"), Define.com ("define ersatz"), Facebok ("facebook amy pomeroy"), any newspaper or magazine, and hundreds of other kinds of sites.

Google has been sneakily introducing some other changes, too. You've probably noticed that as you type in the Search box, a drop-down list of suggested matches appears. It's culled from searches that other people have performed.

It's intended to save you typing (and creativity in wording), of course, but it also gives you a weird feeling of community. It makes you realize that you're not so unique. You're only one of the millions who use Google, and many have been this way before. (I wanted to see that famous video where these guys drop Mentos into Coke bottles to make them explode. I hadn't typed more than two words, "Coke and," when it appeared in the suggestions list--"Coke and Mentos." Two clicks, and I was watching the video.)

I've also noticed that if you type a search term that leads you to a huge Web site, like NYtimes.com, eBay, Amazon, and so on, you actually get a little table in the search results, providing direct links to all the sections *within* that site. In the Times's case, you can type "nytimes" and get a table of sections like Today's Paper, Politics, Business News, Sports and so on. (In fact, there's even a secondary Search box beneath this table--a pretty wild effect I haven't been able to reproduce with any other newspaper or search.)

Google may or may not be evil, but wow, is it getting good at search."

I couldn't have said it better myself!