SES Chicago - December 7-11, 2009

October 13, 2005

The Google Toolbar Spellchecker & Getting Spellchecking In Your Search Box

Yesterday, I wrote about what seemed to be a new feature Google was testing to put spell checking into the search box. Nope, not a new experiment. It actually turns out to be a function of the Google Toolbar. It happens if you type something into any form, including a search box, and push the ABC/Check button. Google Blogoscoped explains more here. It would be cool if it did work in the search box automatically, though -- again, time for Google Suggest to be added to the main Google site, rather than a Google Toolbar feature for Firefox users.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:39 AM | Permalink

October 12, 2005

Google Testing New Spell Correction In Search Box & Again, A Plea To Post When Such Experiments Happening!

Nice catch spotted via Threadwatch, Google's Testing New Dictionary Feature at Justilien.com has news and a screenshot of Google testing a new dictionary feature that corrects your spelling within the search box. But c'mon already, Google. As I wrote before, if you're going to test things, tell us!

I mean, we can assume this is something you are doing -- but what if it's some program that Justilien Gaspard didn't know he had installed doing this? That's not likely the case, but save us another round of everyone wondering what you're doing until eventually some official word gets out on Matt's blog or via GoogleGuy having to confirm things in a search forum, as we've had before.

You've got a blog -- tell us these things though it. Or start a new Google UI blog that those who care can watch.

Postscript: Turns out this is a function of the Google Toolbar.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:46 AM | Permalink

March 8, 2005

Yahoo Directory Makes Changes & Further Directory Decline The Changes in the Yahoo Directory thread in our Search Engine Watch Forums notes that the Yahoo Directory home page has gained a new look and feel. In addition, sites are now sorted by popularity, as I'll explain more below.

I found it striking that instead of listing all sites in a particular category on one single page, categories with many listings (such as here) now have been broken up into multiple pages, with the option to "Next" to the other pages at the bottom. It's similar to how web search results pages operate. It's not a behavior I recall seeing before.

In my mind, it makes getting a Yahoo Directory listing even less compelling than in the past. Previously, there was some value in a listing because people might "detour" from a search results page into a category page and possibly see your listing. But now, for a popular category, there's a good chance you won't show up at all.

Of course, many people still feel paying Yahoo for a link is worthwhile because of link popularity benefits. So if you're in that camp, the changes probably won't be an issue.

Also interesting is that by default, now ALL sites are now listed in order of popularity. How's that determined? Yahoo has long listed some "Most Popular" sites in its directory but never disclosed how this was determined (such as a lack of revelations in this help page about it). I've always felt that clickthrough measurement, along with perhaps some link analysis, was part of the secret sauce.

The Google Directory has long sorted sites it gathers from the Open Directory by PageRank order. Perhaps part of the change is that sites in the Yahoo Directory are now sorted by Yahoo's own Web Rank order. I'm checking on this, along with the changes in general.

You still have to pay a $299 annual fee to submit to commercial categories at Yahoo.com (if you try to submit and only see an option to do so if you pay, that's a commercial category!).

However, folks in this WebmasterWorld thread, Yahoo Directory Changes Listing Method, discuss the directory changes they spotted back at the end of February as well as paid submission no longer being an option for Yahoo UK & Ireland, nor Yahoo Germany and apparently other European Yahoo sites. UK & Ireland now free submit in our SEW Forums also looks at this.

Overall, both Yahoo and Google have greatly decreased the visibility of their directories over the years. The latest Yahoo changes have the feel of a further backing away and perhaps a precursor to automated compilation in the future. For some related reading, see:

  • Google Loses Tabs In New Look: Explains how the Google Directory was demoted off the Google home page last March.  
  • Yahoo Category Links Gone Away?: An illustrated guide from me last July, on how the Yahoo Directory has been downplayed over time, plus comments from others on the change.  
  • On Web Directories: Covers ResearchBuzz's Tara Calishain decrying the loss of directories last November and Gary Price adding that even if Google and Yahoo are backing off, other directories are still out there.  
  • ODP Founder Comments & Moving Past Directories: The founder of the Open Directory Project said in January that he thinks directories no longer make sense. I largely agree in this blog post about his comments, explaining why I think we moved to the current crawler-based results domination. But humans still do have a role to play, as I also explain.  
  • AOL Search: Playing In the Big Leagues Now: Covers a redesign to AOL Search that happened in January. Part of that redesign was to drop directory category links from search results pages that were in place for ages. The directory used by AOL? The Open Directory, which AOL owns. Dropping the links was yet another sign of the decline for directories. Still want the ODP at AOL? It is there, via a link on the home page. That's all that I can find.  
  • Is DMOZ really that great? from our forums has some recent, poignant comments from Open Directory editors saying not to blame them if the ODP has problems. They do the best they can with the few resources AOL gives them. It's long overdue that AOL either provide more support to the project or give it up to someone who will.

Finally, want to keep up with what's been added to the Yahoo Directory? New RSS feeds for various categories are available. Noticing changes at Yahoo yourself? Please contribute or comment in our thread.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:13 AM | Permalink

February 25, 2005

Plurals Lost In Google Dictionary Defintions

Search for car on Google and you'll get a option to view a dictionary definition of the word via Google's partnership with Answers.com, like this:

Results 1 - 10 of about 326,000,000 for car [definition]. (0.09 seconds) 

But search for cars, and suddenly, no definition is provided:

Results 1 - 10 of about 124,000,000 for cars. (0.12 seconds) 

What a difference an S makes? A lot if you're a Googlewhacker trying to determine if your entry has won by following the rules requiring verification in the dictionary. A lot of plurals, it seems, have gone missing.

More from Googlewhack itself in Google and Answers.com Esslessness.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:36 AM | Permalink

January 28, 2005

Google Completes Definition Move To Answers.com

We blogged last week that Google was to moving to Answers.com for its dictionary definitions from Dictionary.com. Gary Stock from over at Googlewhack alerts us that the migration now appears complete. The change had an impact on Googlewhackers because the rules involve checking Google's dictionary -- and the switch apparently had the feature not working for several hours. More background on the differences between the two definition services can be found in our earlier post, Answers.com Now Supplying Dictionary Definitions and More to Google

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:34 AM | Permalink

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