currybetdotnet Search archive

I've got a hunch about 'Hunch' people
You can tell we are going through a mini-revolution in search, because people aren't just launching search engines that aren't Google, they are launching things like 'computational engines' and 'decision engines'. The latter, Hunch, only appeared in the last couple of days. What I really found engaging about it is that as soon as you visit it entices you into playing a game. It is a brilliant way of building up a user profile, and much, much, much more fun...

A Google-eye view of the European Elections
A lot of people do their primary research these days using Google as their only gateway to the Internet, and I wondered what they would be finding if they were looking for information on the parties standing for Thursday's European Elections in London. The mainstream parties All of the mainstream party listings in Google are pretty similar. The initial homepage metadata in all cases stresses the name of the party leader. Who says personality politics is dead? The second...

The Guardian Open Platform at Endeca's e-Business Forum
I've been posting this week about my visit to Endeca's office in Richmond for the "Endeca e-Business Forum". I went because Endeca were one of the launch partners of The Guardian's Open Platform API, and they power our internal site search engine. The Head of The Guardian's Developer Network, Matt McAlister, was giving the final presentation of the day - a case study about the Open Platform. The Open Platform API The Open Platform API Explorer uses the Endeca engine...

Carzone.ie and Euroffice at the Endeca e-Business Forum
Yesterday I posted some of my notes from a trip to Endeca's Richmond office to attend the "Endeca e-Business Forum". They covered Ashley Freidlein's keynote talk about "Beautiful Basics". Today I wanted to look at some of my other notes from the event. Most of the presentations had a dual format, with a presenter from Endeca demonstrating some of the features of the platform, followed by a customer case study of how they had implemented them. It is always intriguing...

Web search at the BBC: Extras
Part of the reason for publishing my recent history of the BBC's web search service was because I had unzipped a load of old files on my PC, and discovered the original usability reports. As well as the articles on currybetdotnet, I've also made some material available elsewhere on the net. Presentation On SlideShare you can find a couple of examples of the typical sort of search related presentation I used to give within the BBC in 2003. "BBCi...

Web search at the BBC: Part 9 - The end is the beginning is the end
I've been writing a series of posts looking at my memories of the development of the BBC's now discontinued web search service. By 2004, I'd moved on to other things within the BBC. The BBC homepage was re-designed again, this time to reflect another re-brand, from BBCi to BBC.co.uk. At the same time the search box was changed from defaulting to web search to defaulting to site search, with the marketing-driven label: "Explore more than 2 million amazing BBC...

Web search at the BBC: Part 8 - Editions of you
I've put together a series of posts looking at how the BBC developed their web search service. During 2002 and 2003 it was a strategic priority for the BBC New Media department, but earlier this year it was shut down. Usability testing at Serco Post-launch, in August 2002, Vincent Helyar & Kate Taylor at Serco produced another user testing report for the BBC about search. Some of their key findings were: The uncluttered layout of results pages was popular...

Web search at the BBC: Part 7 - Shake and crawl
I have been writing a series of posts looking at what I remember of the development of the BBC's web search service, which was recently closed. The service was not always well received internally, and it was certainly unpopular in some quarters outside of the BBC. During the time that the BBC offered web search it used four different technology partners. The initial contract was with Google, and they were replaced as search provider by Inktomi. Inktomi were subsequently...

Web search at the BBC: Part 6 - TV on the radio
Over the last week or so I've been writing up my recollections of the BBC's web search, which was launched in the early part of this decade. In January, having survived both a 2004 DCMS and a 2008 BBC Trust review, Seetha Kumar announced that it was finally being removed from BBC Online. Today I want to look at how the BBC marketed the ability to search the web from bbc.co.uk. Television marketing The web search service initially had...

Web search at the BBC: Part 5 - The path of least resistance
I've been writing up my recollections of the development, rise and fall of the web search provided by the BBC site. I worked on it in the earlier part of this decade, but in January this year the BBC finally shut the service down. It had never been popular internally. Between 2002 and 2004 the BBCi homepage had web search as one of the main features above the fold. Having the external search service up-front-and-centre in that way was...

Web search at the BBC: Part 4 - Glass onion

Web search at the BBC: Part 3 - Centerfield

Web search at the BBC: Part 2 - Over the horizon radar

Web search at the BBC: Part 1 - The beginning is the end is the beginning

Professor Karen Spärk Jones - 'Ada Lovelace Day' blog post

Searching in vain for Amazon's Kindle in the UK

At least Daily Express readers are still searching for Madeleine McCann

Google thinks Google may harm your computer

Is 'Search online for "Act on CO2"' costing the taxpayer unnecessary pay-per-click money?

'Nofollow' and Twitter's crisis of trust

Local search: Seeing the UK's regional press through the eyes of Google

Local search: Using site search in regional press websites - Part 4

Local search: Using site search in regional press websites - Part 3

Local search: Using site search in regional press websites - Part 1

Chipwrapper now available with time-slices

Thoughts, notes and quotes from the Online Information 2008 Seminars: Part 3

Reactions to my post on the Mumbai terrorist attack search engine response

Mumbai terrorist attacks show that search engines still can't get breaking news right

Taking the 'Ooh' out of Google: Getting site search right - Part 12

Taking the 'Ooh' out of Google: Getting site search right - Part 11

Taking the 'Ooh' out of Google: Getting site search right - Part 10

8 Search APIs for Hack Days

Taking the 'Ooh' out of Google: Getting site search right - Part 9

Taking the 'Ooh' out of Google: Getting site search right - Part 8

Taking the 'Ooh' out of Google: Getting site search right - Part 7

The evil of searching for 'Gary Glitter'

He might be the Web 2.0 President, but Barack Obama's change.gov site doesn't get SEO

Taking the 'Ooh' out of Google: Getting site search right - Part 6

Taking the 'Ooh' out of Google: Getting site search right - Part 5

Taking the 'Ooh' out of Google: Getting site search right - Part 4

Taking the 'Ooh' out of Google: Getting site search right - Part 3

Taking the 'Ooh' out of Google: Getting site search right - Part 2

Taking the 'Ooh' out of Google: Getting site search right - Part 1

Introducing Olympic Chipwrapper

BBC iPlayer browser search plug-in updated

More thoughts on Google's sitelinks algorithm

Is this evidence that Google hand-edits 'sitelinks' for small sites?

Begging more questions than answers - the BBC Trust bbc.co.uk review: Search

Introducing the Euro 2008 edition of Chipwrapper

Google News and the missing Mayor from Henley

At last, some varied 'popular' search terms on the Express site

OMG! They are not searching for 'Princess Diana' anymore at the Daily Express!

Chipwrapper and the Ofcom PSB review

How many British newspapers use sitemap.xml to help search engine indexing?

Newspaper "Site Search Smackdown": Round 6 - Google vs The Search Engine All-Stars

Newspaper "Site Search Smackdown": Round 5 - The Newspapers vs Google

Newspaper "Site Search Smackdown": Round 4 - The Daily Express vs The Times

Newspaper "Site Search Smackdown": Round 3 - The Guardian vs The Mirror

Newspaper "Site Search Smackdown": Round 2 - The Telegraph vs The Independent

Newspaper "Site Search Smackdown": Round 1 - The Daily Mail vs The Sun

The online fall-out of the Daily Express apology to Madeleine McCann's family

Chipwrapper goes to church

Search the blogs of the Miami IA Summit

Personal search engine optimsation for Information Architects

Google blocks access to the Biased BBC blog via search

FAQ you! ACAP doesn't do 'attribution' for critics

24/7 TV news websites: Part 12 - Search III

24/7 TV news websites: Part 11 - Search II

24/7 TV news websites: Part 10 - Search

Reflecting on reflections of a Newsosaur

ACAP - flawed and broken from the start?

That 2002 BBCi Search impartiality problem in full

Headline buzz tag cloud now on Chipwrapper

Pavarotti and Jane Tomlinson's deaths test search

Chipwrapper gets a rugby edition for the world cup

Introducing Chipwrapper - a UK newspaper search engine

Using 'TEST' as a test search term is quite testing for TravelMail and others

BBC iPlayer search plugin for Internet Explorer and Firefox, and an iPlayer Google Toolbar button

Back at the BBC (slight return)

Google Toolbar buttons for British newspapers including headline feeds

British newspaper search plugins for Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2

BBC search plugins for Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2

Tweaking my old Glastonbury articles in response to searches

Google search results promoting YouTube's Premier League copyright infringement

Guess who is the the favourite search term on the Daily Express site?

Who benefits financially from the Madeleine McCann publicity juggernaut?

How much did shingles cost in 1963?

Questionable eBay adverts on Google "Jewish cemetery" searches

Google putting Wikipedia extracts at #1 - for Bruce Hornsby anyway

My 'biased' view of the Biased BBC blog - part two

Search Engine Land's social bookmarking faux pas

Google kills the political Googlebomb - well, unless you are French

Sitemaps in search engine news

Someone auctions FTP access to a .gov site on eBay

High rankings for Wikipedia doesn't mean the net has been hi-jacked by teenagers

Ignore the #privacy campaign - searching the internet is not a private activity. Period.

Smarter searching: liberating information from the Internet - Shopping around

Smarter searching: liberating information from the Internet - Easier visual interfaces

Smarter searching: liberating information from the Internet - Let the information come to you

Smarter searching: liberating information from the Internet - Optimise your browser for search



Search this site

Get free updates


Email icon   RSS icon

Sign up for free email updates
  

Posts of the moment


Michael Jackson headlines

"Michael Jackson's death spares the BBC"
What would have been on Friday's front pages.


Martin Belam presenting at the Social Media Summit

How major publishers are using social media to drive traffic
An article based on my presentation at May's International Social Media Summit.


London IA Mini

"London IA Mini II"
My write-up of the recent London IA Mini Conference at the Sense Loft in London.