Re: Altavista better than Google for genealogy searches

On Friday 16 May 2008 19:52, Steve Hayes (hayesmstw@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
) allowed as
how:

> On Thu, 15 May 2008 15:04:36 +0100, Martin Brown
> <|||newspam|||@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> 
<snip>

> My point is that phrases like "Google is your friend" and "go and Google
> for it" (which one often sees in genealogy forums) imply that "one size
> fits all", yet may not be the best advice to give to genealogy newbies.
> 

The phrases have become so much a part of every day usage that I'd be
inclined to say they're like "I'll make a xerox of that".  They've
attained
a generic meaning having more to do with the search than with the engine. 
I don't think that generic meaning implies "one size fits all", at all.

WRT the test results, I personally have found no significant SUBJECTIVE
difference between Google and AltaVista.  Both throw up commercial links
at
the head of every page, followed by possibly relevant non-commercial
links. 
In either case there was a lot of cruft to wade through.  That doesn't
mean, of course, that there are no differences, just that my quick'n'dirty
test found none that I felt to be significant.

Scientific Ol' Bob



-- 
Robert G. Melson | Rio Grande MicroSolutions | El Paso, Texas
-----
Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable
reason so few engage in it.  -- Henry Ford