Posted by Solutions Center on Tue, Aug 11, 2009
Wow, we weren't kidding in earlier blogs when we alluded to letting the search wars begin. Well, now that Microsoft has upped the ante by not only launching an extremly successful "decision engine" Bing, and teaming up with Yahoo!, Google got a little pissed off. Microsoft just woke a sleeping giant. Google wants its market share back and they are ready for war.
What exactly does Google have in store for us? How about a better Google. What - is that even possible you ask? Well, unbeknownst to many, Google just announced it has been working on a better, faster, more robust search engine. Basically, it's the newest version of Google and for right now it is still under construction. Here is what Google has to say about it's newest updated search engine:
"For the last several months, a large team of Googlers has been working on a secret project: a next-generation architecture for Google's web search. It's the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions. The new infrastructure sits "under the hood" of Google's search engine, which means that most users won't notice a difference in search results. But web developers and power searchers might notice a few differences, so we're opening up a web developer preview to collect feedback."
What does all of that mean to the average user? It means they are specifically working on improving indexing speed, the accuracy of your searches, and the size and scope of your searches. I apologize that this didn't bare all of the juicy details, but we will keep you posted as they are revealed! Check it out here: New Google Search. Stay tuned, this could get exciting.
Posted by Solutions Center on Thu, Jun 25, 2009
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Microsoft's Bing has been making major changes to the way the world interacts with search engines. If you've seen the
funny commercialsthat Bing has been putting out - you probably understand the need for a true decision engine. The question is though- is Bing really a decision engine?
If you are looking for a true way to make decisions - I would have to argue that Bing is not the answer. So what is then, you may be asking? Hunch.com is the closest thing that I have seen to being a true decision engine.
So how does it work? Well, I had to do some homework before I even used Hunch. Relax - it was easy and actually fun. Hunch posed some interesting questions and also asked me questions about myself. The cool thing was, it even displayed the percentage of others who chose my answer as well. Like a first date should - Hunch actually took some time to get to know me, Bing did not.
So what kind of decisions does Hunch help you make? Currently there are about 2,500 questions you can get answers to and more get added every day. As an avid dog lover - I was curious to find out if Hunch could figure out what kind of dogs I like - low and behold it suggested that I get two of my favorite dogs - Labradors and Golden Retrievers. Even cooler - after answering a few questions - it told me where I would like to eat. Its top two suggested restaurants were two of my favorite spots to eat in Philly - and I can't wait to check out its other suggestions.
You will have to do some exploring to find out if it can help make decisions for the question you asked, but this far beats out Bing as a "decision engine". Plus it is way more fun!
Check it out at Hunch.com!