Comments on: Would Better Results Make You Switch Search Engines?

By: Marc in Chicago

Marc in Chicago — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:13:24 +0000

Even if we switch engines the big G has managed to implant itself into many other aspects of our online life with email, video, image sharing, blogging, browsing and a host of other things. And this should illustrate how they know the search market can be lost easily, lol.

By: Jason Kuiper

Jason Kuiper — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 20:38:40 +0000

As of right now, google is my search of choice. However, I am willing to try anything once!

By: Jim in New Jersey

Jim in New Jersey — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 04:03:58 +0000

A better search engine should make everyone switch. No one uses Altavista anymore….
and some of the spammy sites found in Googles index are powered by google ads, so there is a conflict of interest going on

By: DF Marketing SEO

DF Marketing SEO — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 03:11:08 +0000

People say that, but people are so happy with Google – they will never try different results.

Like Utah said, people are habitual

By: Utah SEO Pro

Utah SEO Pro — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:06:07 +0000

I don't think so. People are habitual. BUT a search engine collecting too much information and abusing it would definitely be cause. Utah SEO Pro's last blog post..An Interview with Utah SEO Pro (Jordan Kasteler) by Martin Bowling

By: Jacques Seoman

Jacques Seoman — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:34:13 +0000

The world of the web can be likened to the world of superbikes. The model that has the current best performance is the model that has the best sales. When a new upstart appears the buyers migrate to whatever is the best. I do foresee that if a browser comes along that can actually compete with Google and outperforms it with better / more relevant results it will gain a core following quite quickly.

By: Goran Web Design

Goran Web Design — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:55:00 +0000

I think it’s gotten to the point where it’d be near impossible for another search engine to steal google’s regular users. The brand has become so powerful and recognised that it changes people’s perceptions, as you pointed out with, “results with the Google brand are perceived as more relevant than identical results with other search engines’ logos,” it’s similar to tests that were done a while ago in which children were given vegetables to eat, some of the veggies were handed over as they were packaged straight outta the supermarket, while others were delivered in McDonalds packaging…. The kids, of course, said the McD veggies tasted better, despite the fact that they were all the same thing

By: R&B Love Songs

R&B Love Songs — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 04:40:27 +0000

Yea Kenney, Alexa rankings really don’t mean much of anything. They’re like points in who’s line is it anyway.

By: Cody Foss

Cody Foss — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 02:03:46 +0000

A better experience, which includes search results, would convince me to change. I flirted with Yahoo about six months ago, but couldn’t make the change. Mostly because the results weren’t as relevant. There were things I liked about it though, like the suggested similar searches.

By: Phenomenal

Phenomenal — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:37:50 +0000

LJ Jones: Better results is all relative.

I agree. Depending on my query I use different engines, for example for work I use www.searchpetroleum.net because it is the business I’m in and it gives me much more relevant results for my needs than Google.

By: Jordan McCollum

Jordan McCollum — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:16:29 +0000

I’m not one to dispute the venerable Alexa data (pfft), but Yahoo is also a portal. Not all traffic on Yahoo.com converts into search queries; people don’t go to Google.com with any other intent but to search.

By: Kenney and Kim

Kenney and Kim — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:55:40 +0000

Google and Yahoo both provide great search. I think the normal searcher can “learn” to search better. I search Google for searches related to business, but Yahoo for most everything else, and my wife loves Yahoo. I saw that Google has over 70% of search, How is that possible when Yahoo has the #1 Alexa ranking? I mean they just had a new commercial about them getting more traffic than Google…or something like that.

By: Saad Kamal

Saad Kamal — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:05:44 +0000

Yahoo's result is sometimes better than Google. But i still like Google because of its speed. Saad Kamal's last blog post..Protect Your Site from Spammers - Matt Cutts

By: Dan London

Dan London — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:04:06 +0000

Google still gives me the most relevant results and i've tried a number of different SEs. Dan London's last blog post..Don’t Judge a Person by Their Twitter Profile

By: John

John — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:01:27 +0000

personally, yes, but google will still be there as an alternative, no search can perfect that way the user wanted. John's last blog post..Busby SEO Test the hard way

By: Nicole Price

Nicole Price — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:00:44 +0000

If I were to be surveyed, I too would say that nothing would make me change from Google. I am quite satisfied with their search. Nicole Price's last blog post..Good Deals on Hair Products

By: Quilmes Verano

Quilmes Verano — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:39:13 +0000

I’d say better results and faster loading pages. When one makes over 50 queries a day, they don’t care if the table background image loads or not. Stuff like that really slows down the search process and distracts the user from what he was searching in the first place.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:03:27 +0000

I agree with some of the others. Google doesn't necessarily have the best results, but it is a buzz word at this point. Whenever you want to find something on the internet, you don't search for it, you Google it. It will be hard for people to switch at this point. Patrick's last blog post..Great Deal on Eco Friendly Wood Products

By: Wii

Wii — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:57:08 +0000

I must say if I thought I could get better results for my site from yahoo or msn I would target these search engines instead of google. However with google having such a large share of the market I think you have to put the effort in to get ranked highly in the serps and hopefully start generating the traffic you want

By: PS3

PS3 — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:23:50 +0000

I can’t remember many occasions where Google didn’t come up with the right information eventually.

That is partly due to Google and partly to the fact that you get used to the best search queries after so long using it.