Google Query Refinements
Bill has an excellent, and very detailed, post on Google’s search query refinement patent.
“I find the most interesting thing about this approach is how user data, through log files and cached information, is incorporated into results.
There are probably some hints in the document for people creating content on web sites, on how to best show up in some of these alternative results. Taking a careful look at words you think people will search for, and what appears in Google’s results for those search phrases may tell you something about how your pages will be treated by this search refinement approach“.
I find that most interesting too, Bill. This reminds me of the tilde search, i.e. the placement of a ~ before a Google search query in order to see the related synonyms and webpages within the cluster. Knowing the search keyword terms is great, but there’s a lot of gold to be be found in knowing the keyword terms associated with that phrase, and, more importantly, the keyword terms Google associates with that phrase.
April 21st, 2006 at 10:49 am
Thanks, Peter.
I absolutely agree on the tilde search.
Using the cached and log file information adds the possibility of learning a little about which topics might be popular at the time, or seasonal, as well as adding some other information to your understanding of how Google (the database and processing system, as opposed to the company) might feel about some words and phrases.
April 21st, 2006 at 11:40 am
As always, reading stuff written by Bill requires undivided attention. Good post, Bill, and good find Peter.
April 22nd, 2006 at 3:14 am
Thanks, John.
Of course, now when I try to find some of these query refinements, I can’t locate any.