ADVANCEDPROJECTS
ISSUE387|COMPUTER SHOPPER|MAY2020 125
GOOGLELIKESTOportrayitself as the king of search, the obvious and
only place to go to find any and all information. It is not.
If you’re looking foranew job,for instance,you probably wouldn’t
openwww.google.co.ukand type in your aspiration, since you’d be
flooded with loads of irrelevant information. Instead, you’d almost
certainly go to Indeed, Monster,Reed or possibly aspecialist
employment siteifyou have aniche skill set. If you’re looking fora
new car,you’d head to BuyaCar,AutoTrader,Carwow or perhaps
load amap to find your local dealers. If you want to discover the
background of atopic, meanwhile,you might go straight to Wikipedia.
If you want abetter deal on autility,you’d use aprice comparison site
to search forthe best price or level of service.
All of these sites use search algorithms to connect you with the
information you need, and their greater focushelps you find what you
want quicker.Sowhile you might use Google to find those specialist
sites, you’re already going beyond Google and you’ve already realised a
keyconcept: the tool you use depends on what you’re trying to achieve.
Let’s add another keyconcept: trust. If you’re feeling ill, or you’ve
developed amedical concern, youcould type your symptoms into
Google and get aslewofresults. But which would you trust?
Possibly it would be better just to head straight to WebMD or the
online NHS 111 service (111.nhs.uk).
Expandthat concept even further,and you’ll stumble over the
influence of money. Most search engines use advertising to ensure⬆Ifyou stillhaven’t found what you’re looking foronthe web,maybe you need to move awayfrom the mighty Google
⬆IsGoogle the best search engine,
or is there abetter choice?