Comparing search engines




Each of the webpages I write, and place on this website, is done for my own amusement and interest. None of them are directed by any other person. Because of this, I have no real interest in whether anyone else finds or reads these webpages. If they do, and they get some benefit from them, that's nice, but that's not why I write them.

Nonetheless, the only way most persons could find their way to the webpages on this website would be through the various web search engines, such as Google, MSN, Yahoo, Altavista, Ask (formerly "Ask Jeeves"), and AOL.

For some reason, the indexing of the webpages on this website by these web search engine is very erratic and inconsistent, not only between the various search engines, but also within one search engine over time. Because, as I have said, I have no real interest in whether anyone finds their way to these webpages, I haven't bothered to figure out why this happens, or to communicate my findings to any of the search engines. It's just something I've noticed.



The table below shows the results of entering a search string, with and without double quotes (") exactly as shown, into the named web search engines at approximately the date and time shown, and whether the results returned by the search engine included the page at "http://www.wargs.com/.." which satisfies the searched-for string. A "Yes" means that the response from the search engine included a hit for that page, and a "No" means that the response from the search engine did not include a hit for that page. If it's in red, then the current result returned by that search engine for that search string is different from the previous result returned by that search engine for that search string.

AOL claims that its search is "enhanced by Google", but it's not clear what this means, as the AOL and Google search results have always varied from each other. On the other hand, Altavista says that their search results are "powered by Yahoo! search technology", and the Altavista and Yahoo search results are almost (though not quite) identical.



Date and Time (Eastern) Search Engine "877-333-3738"
../misc/calls.html 		wargs egidy
../royal/egidy.html 		wargs rinold
../other/deere.html 		"publishers billing emporium"
../misc/1500.html 		wargs creekmore
../political/obama.html 		wargs claverie
../other/oswald.html
               
6 March 2006
Noon 		Google No Yes Yes No Yes No
MSN Yes No No No Yes No
Yahoo No No No No Yes Yes
               
11 March 2006
4:30 PM 		Google No Yes Yes No Yes No
MSN Yes Yes No Yes No No
Yahoo No No Yes No Yes Yes
               
16 March 2006
9:30 AM 		Google No Yes Yes No Yes No
MSN Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
Yahoo No No Yes No Yes Yes
Altavista No No No No Yes No
Ask No No Yes No Yes Yes
AOL No Yes No No Yes No
               
22 March 2006
3 PM 		Google No Yes Yes No Yes No
MSN Yes Yes No No No No
Yahoo No No Yes No Yes No
Altavista No No Yes No Yes No
Ask No No Yes No Yes Yes
AOL No Yes No No Yes No
               
28 March 2006
11:30 AM 		Google No Yes Yes No Yes No
MSN Yes Yes No No Yes No
Yahoo Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Altavista Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ask No No Yes No Yes Yes
AOL No Yes No No Yes No
               
5 April 2006
11:30 AM 		Google No Yes Yes No Yes No
MSN Yes Yes No Yes No No
Yahoo Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Altavista Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ask No No Yes No Yes Yes
AOL No Yes No No Yes No
               
12 April 2006
2:30 PM 		Google No Yes Yes No Yes No
MSN Yes No No No Yes No
Yahoo Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Altavista Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ask No No Yes No Yes Yes
AOL No Yes No No Yes No
               
19 April 2006
3:00 PM 		Google No Yes Yes No Yes No
MSN Yes Yes No No No No
Yahoo Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Altavista Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ask No No Yes No Yes Yes
AOL No Yes No No Yes No
               
29 April 2006
Noon 		Google No Yes Yes No No No
MSN Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
Yahoo Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Altavista Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ask No No Yes No Yes Yes
AOL No Yes No No No No
               
12 May 2006
2:00 PM 		Google No Yes Yes Yes No Yes
MSN Yes Yes No Yes No No
Yahoo Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Altavista Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ask No No Yes No Yes Yes
AOL No Yes No No No Yes
               
19 May 2006
12:30 PM 		Google Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
MSN Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
Yahoo Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Altavista Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ask No No Yes No Yes Yes
AOL Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
               
  On 20 May 2006 I used the webform at http://webk.ask.com/contactus to point out that I had seen their (then-recent) ads on US television networks saying their search engine was better than those of their competitors, and that I found otherwise, and pointed them to this webpage (the one you're reading now).

On 22 May 2006 I received a response from ask.com appreciating my interest in having my site listed on the ask.com search engine, and offering information on how I could pay to get my website at the top of their search results (i.e., sponsored listings). In other words, their response shows they didn't read my message very well. :)
               
26 May 2006
12:30 PM 		Google Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
MSN No Yes No No Yes No
Yahoo Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Altavista Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ask No No Yes No Yes Yes
AOL Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
               
2 June 2006
12:30 PM 		Google Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
MSN Yes Yes No No Yes No
Yahoo Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Altavista Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ask No No Yes No Yes Yes
AOL Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
               
15 June 2006
1:30 PM 		Google Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
MSN Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
Yahoo Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Altavista Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Ask No No Yes No Yes Yes
AOL Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
               
  In addition, as of 15 June 2006, Google is also indexing this page! I'm not sure why they'd do that, as there has been a <META name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow"> statement in the header of this page since before it was placed on the Internet. That's what Google claims, at http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35303, will prevent robots, such as the Googlebot, from indexing a webpage. It's nice to see that Google won't honor its own published standards :)

This page was still indexed by Google on 23 June 2006 (see below).
               
23 June 2006
Noon 		Google Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
MSN Yes Yes No Yes No No
Yahoo Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Altavista Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ask No No Yes No Yes Yes
AOL Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
               
  As of 12 July 2006, Google was no longer indexing this page.
               
12 July 2006
2:00 PM 		Google Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
MSN Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
Yahoo Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Altavista Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ask No No Yes No Yes Yes
AOL Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
               
4 Aug 2006
2:30 PM 		Google Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
MSN No Yes No Yes Yes No
Yahoo Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Altavista Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ask Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
AOL Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes