Google Is (Probably) Tampering With Its Search Results (Perhaps To Hurt Microsoft) - Intriguing Evidence

When I read about Microsoft's launch of the SearchPerks! program, I felt like reading about it on Wikipedia (I generally visit Wikipedia to read about something). I typed microsoft searchperks wikipedia into Google and got the top result pointing to the SearchPerks! webpage on Wikipedia.

Specifically, I reached this version of the article. Since at that time this version was the most recent version of the article, it was running as the main article. Once again feeling like puking about Microsoft's desperate actions, I decided to edit this article to give readers a

real perspective of this program.

So in the subsequent hours, I made multiple edits to the article which can be seen here, here, here, here, and here (these are in the order of older to newer). Note that I still believe that my perspective of this program (the way I presented it in Wikipedia) should be included in the Wikipedia article- it is something that deserves to be told to readers since it is true.

From time to time I would visit this webpage (always using Google to get me to the Wikipedia page) to check if someone added-to/edited/removed what I had added in the article. And every time Google would show the wikipedia article as the top search result, whether the query would be searchperks wikipedia, live searchperks wikipedia, windows live searchperk wikipedia or microsoft live searchperks wikipedia.

However, today when I wished to reach this page via Google, Google doesn't show link to the Wikipedia article any longer.

Following screenshots prove this:-

Also, a search conducted only on the Wikipedia in English domain returns zero results for the term searchperks:-

Finally, searching for the URL of the SearchPerks! program returns zero results:-

It seems that Google is manually tampering with its search results.

There is another interesting thing to observe. Look at this screenshot:-

It shows the search results page on Google for the query windows live searchperks wikipedia. Note that there are results from Wikipedia in the list of results returned by Google.

However, when I click on More results from en.wikipedia.org link on the webpage, there are zero results, as visible in the screenshot below:-

This is awkward (and illogical) because if Google's algorithms return results from en.wikipedia.org on the main search results page for the query windows live searchperks wikipedia, then why aren't at least those same results returned when the same query is ran for the domain en.wikipedia.org?

My Concerns About The Proposed Google-Yahoo Search Advertising Deal (In Context Of AOL Search & Ask.com)

The current state of Web search engines is as follows:-

1. Google: Search results = Google | Ads = Google
   
2. Yahoo: Search results = Yahoo | Ads = Yahoo
   
3. Live/MSN Search: Search results = Microsoft | Ads = Microsoft
4. AOL: Search results = Google | Ads = Google
   
5. Ask: Search results = Ask.com | Ads = Google / LookSmart
   

My present concerns are as follows:-

1. Google already powers search results on 2 of the top 5 search engines, and ads on 3 of the top 5 search engines. In effect, although we have an impression that there are 'Five' distinct search engines, in reality we have only 4 search engines and only 3 mainstream search-ad engines. AOL and Ask.com nicely create an impression of prevailing competition in the search engine business, while hiding the fact that Google powers them in one way or the other.
2. Far more important than the number of top search engines powered by Google's search results and Google's ads is Google's 'share' of search results and search ads. If both direct and indirect counts are made, Google is an unquestionable monopoly when it comes to search results and search ads.
3. Google's share in the search engine market is growing relentlessly month-by-month, further choking the air supply of the few credible alternatives left and sending them into a downward spiral.
4. Since search engine business is very capital intensive, it's almost impossible for any startup to compete with Google (and other top search engines). Look at Cuil and Wikia Search- both started off with lots of buzz and media coverage, and now have been relegated to the 'virtually non-existent' and 'insignificant' category. Their presence or absence doesn't matter.
5. It is possible (and likely) that in the next 2 years, Google will have over 90% of search engine market share, a dangerous situation for the Web and for the search business.
6. Ask.com is the leading underdog out of the top 5 search engines. Its search results page already seems to rely more heavily on Google-powered ads than on it's organic search results and embarrassingly, many times the ads are more relevant than the search results themselves. I have observed that Ask.com gives irrelevant results non-infrequently, and if it wishes to maintain or grow its market share, it must switch to search results of Yahoo. I believe that Yahoo-powered search results and Google/Yahoo-powered ads is a life-savior combination for Ask. Also, Ask should sell its search engine intellectual property (algorithms, engineers, patents, etc.) to Microsoft, as it's unlikely that Ask will be able to compete with the other search engines with its own search results. Finally, the user interface of Ask.com is cluttered, complex and slow, and Ask must revamp its user interface (especially the search results page) if it wishes to stop its audience from defecting to rivals.

The above list will look like the following if the Google-Yahoo deal does take place:-

1. Google: Search results = Google | Ads = Google
2. Yahoo: Search results = Yahoo | Ads = Yahoo & Google
   
3. Live/MSN Search: Search results = Microsoft | Ads = Microsoft
   
4. AOL: Search results = Google | Ads = Google
5. Ask: Search results = Ask.com | Ads = Google / LookSmart
   

My additional concerns, if the deal does take place are as follows:-

1. One out of the only 2 credible Google alternatives (Yahoo and Microsoft) will start to get dependent on Google. Increased cash flows because of Google ads will leave little incentive for Yahoo to innovate and improve its advertising technology. The deal is a poison pill for Yahoo, and although Yahoo contends that increased cash flows from the deal will allow it to make investments to improve its advertising technology, the will make Yahoo's advertising system less attractive for advertisers and Google's platform even more attractive, thus further decreasing the profitability of Yahoo from its own ads, and making it more dependent on Google ads (for revenue). The downward spiral may actually lead to a collapse of Yahoo's ad system.

In summary, I believe that this proposed deal should be blocked, so that Yahoo is forced to innovate and improve its own search engine and advertising network. This will be good for both Yahoo and the Web- in the long term.

Related Posts By Me:-

Live Search is now better than Ask.com Search Engine (Plus More)

Missing Simplicity - 3 GiB Install of Windows XP

I was surprised, saddened and a little worried when I saw the properties of the Windows folder on my computer. Over 3 GiB just to install a non-stellar operating system? Where are we heading to? Perhaps 20 GiB and 40,000 files just for the install of Windows 7?

I wish to point out that a clean install of Windows XP takes much less space than this and has much less number of files as well. It's only after one installs all the updates, patches, etc. that the Windows directory becomes excessively bulky and cluttered (In fact the System 32 folder on my computer has so many files that even scrolling through it slows down tremendously as Windows Explorer relentlessly tries to render all the file icons).

Windows keeps saving backups of all the old files whenever I update a component, something I just don't want, but something Windows just doesn't allow me to choose. Please Microsoft, I just don't want to go back to IE 6 when I install IE 7, IE 7 when I install IE 8 Beta 1 and IE 8 Beta 1 when I install IE 8 Beta 2. Please don't save IE 6 and IE 7 when I install IE 8. I just don't want them back. I want a clean, light and fast system. So please, at least give me an option to not save anything that I don't want saved.

Missing those days when I used to play the 75 KiB Dave game on a 1 MiB MS-DOS install.

Seventy. Five. Kibibytes. Phew!

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. - Collapse of an Icon

It's a slightly emotional moment for me, as I keep track of the series of unfortunate developments taking place one after the other at one of the world's oldest, largest, most well known, most respected and most successful financial titans.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., undoubtedly an icon, is on it's deathbed. I feel emotional about this because in a way, I associate myself with Lehman Brothers. In my final year at college, Lehman came to my college for campus recruitment. And I remember that, shamefully, I just missed it. Yes, I missed it for 2 reasons:

1. I was at home when Lehman came, recruited people from my college and went back.
   
2. My resume wasn't sent to Lehman by my college's Placement Cell (or so I've heard).

I remember how since many days (before Lehman finally came to my college) there was a buzz all around about the package Lehman was going to offer- something in the range of 15 million to 20 million Indian rupees per year. This was (and is) naturally a very rewarding package, which anybody shall be fortunate to have. I had a strong belief that if it's research or consulting posts that Lehman is coming for, then I'll shine for sure. The turn of events was such that I was under an impression that Lehman was going to come some days later, and so I went back home that weekend, and in the meantime Lehman came and went back. And I just missed it. To this day, I don't know what job profile Lehman brought to my college.

I remember feeling quite sad for many days when I came to know that Lehman came and went all of a sudden, unexpectedly, and I didn't even know this. And even to this day I never fail to narrate the story of Lehman to my friends.

So today, when I read about the impending demise of Lehman Brothers, I feel sad, the way Lehman employees are feeling sad.

Staff gathered in a meeting room at the Lehman Brothers office in Canary Wharf in London on Thursday.

Missed Opportunities - A Photography Problem

"Opportunity Never Knocks Twice"

This quote, one of my guiding principles, can be seen when my Nokia N-Series phone boots up. And how true it is!

Yesterday night I and my brother were watching Buffett and Gates Go Back to School on NDTV Profit, and a student asked Warren what was the worst investment he ever made. Warren's answer was that the bad investments he had made weren't the ones that "showed up" or were "visible", but were the opportunities that he missed.

I realised the truthfulness of this twice in the last 18 hours. There's this problem I (and millions others) face when I do photography- one frequently encounters moments which arrive suddenly, last for a very short time and then quickly disappear... giving one no time to capture them. 2 such moments came and went by in the last 18 hours:-

1. I was on the Mall Road, driving back towards home. A family, with one little kid, was waiting for cars to pass by, so they could cross the road. As soon as my car went by, the family tried to cross the road quickly. In this hurry, 1 of the 3 balloons the little child was holding slipped off his hands and onto the road. The child tried to run back to fetch his balloon, but his parents pulled him, lest there be an accident, even as the child struggled to bring back his balloon. In this struggle, 2 more of the balloons in that child's hands slipped onto the road. It was a strange feeling to watch the child struggling to go back to the road, while his parents pulled him. The balloons were the child's world. The child is his parents' world. Both the child and the parents are trying to save their world!
2. Today around 11:30 AM, I was walking in a corridor of the Dayanand Medical College & Hospital. A family was coming from the other side. There was a little girl along with that family, holding her father's finger. While there was sadness and anxiety on faces of all the adult family members (God bless them), the little girl was smiling, jumping and naughtily and playfully laughing. Once again, it was a strange feeling to watch sadness and anxiety on the faces of family members, even as the little girl was smiling and playing (in a hospital- unaware of the words "anxiety", "disease", "life" & "responsibility"). Ignorance is bliss!

And I couldn't capture these moments. Because they came and went by in the blink of an eye. I'll think someday about how to solve this problem.

Live Search is now better than Ask.com Search Engine (Plus More)

I frequently conduct various tests (queries, user interface checks, speed of loading, etc.) on the top 5 Web search engines (Listed here in lexicographic order- AOL Search, Ask.com Search Engine, Google, Live Search & Yahoo! Search). And by way of these self-created tests, I've built up a quite accurate idea of how each of these search engines fares on the following parameters (The following list has been thought by me, is not listed in any particular order, & can be viewed as an incomplete list of the important aspects of a Web search engine):-

1. Relevance of results on the SERP to a user's queries.
2. The time it takes to load homepage of a search engine.
3. The time it takes to load the SERP of a search engine.
4. The comprehensiveness of a search engine's index.
5. The time it takes for a freshly submitted URL to be indexed by a search engine (Currently not applicable in case of AOL Search & Ask.com Search Engine).
6. The visual appeal of both the homepage and SERP of a search engine (My current favorite is Live Search).
7. The ease-of-use & intuitiveness of user interface of a search engine (This is not the same as visual appeal).
8. The amount of advertising (including self-promotional links) shown on homepage as well as on a SERP.
9. The relevance of ads shown on a SERP to a user's queries.
10. The features & tools that a search engine provides to a user.

It is to be emphasized again that the above list has been thought by me, is not listed in any particular order, & can be viewed as an incomplete list of the important aspects of a Web search engine.

I have concluded from my today's test of the top 5 Web search engines that Microsoft's Live Search is now better (for daily or general use) than Ask.com Search Engine. In fact Live Search is now so good that it does the job about 75% of the time (For me). Only about 25% of the time do I have to switch to Google or Yahoo! Search to get useful results. I wish to add that till some months back, it was Ask.com Search Engine which was better than Live Search. I also want to add that I do not wish to imply that Live Search has gotten better than Ask.com Search Engine today. Rather it's me who has concluded this now by way of the test I conducted today.

Finally, I wish to add that Live Search's working for me about 75% of the time (assuming Google is given 100% on the comparison scale) does not mean that Live Search has started giving good enough results about 75% of the time in general, or 'for everybody' (i.e. Live Search is as good as Google for every 3 out of 4 queries, on average). It's only for my set of queries that Live Search fares this good. For a different set of queries, Live Search will surely get a different score. Nevertheless, Live Search has improved dramatically. That's beyond doubt.

Why I shall trust Wikipedia a little less from now...

I have had quite a lot of faith in Wikipedia. Till now that is. Although news stories and blog posts (and lately, some of my colleagues and friends as well) have been whining about incorrectness of facts on Wikipedia for quite long now, I somehow still held strong faith in Wikipedia's correctness. Not anymore. Here's why...

I watched Dil Dosti Etc some days back, and after having watched it, I felt like knowing who Sanjay in the movie is, in reality. A quick Google search informed me that it's Shreyas Talpade, and as I started reading about Shreyas Talpade on Wikipedia, I was a little surprised to read his age- 41 years. I was quite surprised that even at the age of 41, he played the role of a college guy in Dil Dosti Etc, and throughout the movie I didn't feel even once that he's 41.

Here's a screenshot of what I saw on Wikipedia
However, today when I made mummy watch Dil Dosti Etc, mummy said she already knows who Shreyas Talpade is, and mummy challenged me that he isn't 41 years old. I quickly showed mummy the article on Wikipedia, but mummy was firm that it just cannot be true. Then I conducted some celebrity searches on Live Search, and found this page on MSN India, from which his current age can be deduced as 34 years. Quite frankly, I was amazed as to how there exists a clear discrepancy between what Wikipedia says and what's mentioned on MSN India.

Here's the page I saw on MSN India
Who did I finally believed? Wikipedia or MSN India? I'll believe MSN India on this one.

And I'll believe Wikipedia a tad less from now.

Installing RAM modules having different frequencies- my experience

My problem is mentioned in detail here (it should be worthwhile to read this link prior to reading this post).

I now had 2 RAM modules

1. A 512 MB 400 MHz module from Simmtronics.
2. A 256 MB 333 MHz module from a lesser-known brand.

The 512 MB module was already present in the primary slot. I added the 256 MB module to the secondary slot. When I powered on my system, the BIOS began to give ominous beeps, indicating a problem. Naturally, it was due to the newly added RAM module. I suspected that this combination of 400 MHz and 333 MHz RAM modules isn't going to work on my system. Sigh...

As I was about to remove the 256 MB module, an idea flashed in my mind. I quickly swapped the positions of the modules and powered on my system once again, with higher hope. And guess what? It booted normally! The BIOS showed my system's memory speed as 333 MHz, and the total system memory as 768 MB.

I'm not sure why interchanging positions of the two RAM modules made things work, but what I suspect is this (and this is the idea that had flashed in my mind). Putting the 333 MHz RAM into the first slot caused its frequency to be set as the system's memory frequency, by the BIOS (during power on). And this frequency was imposed upon the module in second slot. Since in this case it was a module that supported higher frequency (400 MHz), it simply ran at a slower frequency, without any problems.

However, if the 400 MHz module is put in the first slot, 400 MHz is set as the system's memory frequency (by the BIOS), and the module in second slot isn't able to support it, triggering the error beep sequence.

I again emphasise that I'm not sure about what in reality is the reason for what happened, and that this is the idea that came in my mind. Most importantly, it worked!

A really rude message on uTorrent forums

This is the message I saw (the message can be seen in the image below- the image can be clicked to see it in full size) when I landed on one of the pages of the uTorrent forums. I reached here from one of the search results on Google Search, and the interesting thing is that this is the first time that I have ever been to the uTorrent forums.

It makes me wonder:-

1. Why was I banned? (especially when this is the first time I've been to the uTorrent forums, and even more so because my computer obtains its IP address using DHCP)
   
2. Shouldn't the administrators or the moderators resort to less abusive language when banning someone?
   

How to correctly enter the cat-only-symbols security code at RapidShare

Some minutes back I wanted to download a file from RapidShare.com. But it looks like they've changed the method they use to ensure that a user is indeed a human. The new method they use- still a CAPTCHA- is not only confusing, it's quite difficult too. One sees the following text when presented with security question:-

Please enter the following code when downloading. Only enter symbols attached to a cat. This is for security reasons. Premium users can jump this step.

And an image like this one is visible

A new user will almost certainly think that every symbol has a cat attached to it. However, since the field to enter the security code is only 4 character long (while there are 7 characters in the image above), it means that some characters out of the above do not have a cat attached to them.

Coming to the point, the key here is to enter those characters which have a head of a cat visible. In the above case, it's NNOO. Characters that don't have a head are invalid ones.

As a side note, I feel that this new system deployed by RapidShare is unnecessarily confusing. CAPTCHA systems used by Google and Microsoft, as shown below, do the job (of ensuring that a user is a human) nicely, without spoiling the user experience.