Google trick or treat

[stevey]

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Well, since I haven't had may treats from Google lately I noticed some interesting results for the search term 'trick or treat'. Seems like the top 6 results are divided off from the rest. Some more Google trickery perhaps for it's own gain while monopolising everyone else?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=trick+or+treat

I noticed Silly Jokes was number one for 'uk trick or treat'. Congrats Silly Jokes! Enjoy it while it lasts if the above is a sign of things to come.

stevey

[dmorison]

This has been going on for a while on certain terms; it happens when your search is for a subset of a far more popular search.

I think the assumption is that you really wanted to make the more specific query and so it is trying to save you time by bringing in the top results for that query also.... or something like that!

[Lee_Owen]

I end up going to another search engine when I get results like that when I'm searching.

[Mogga]

I've stopped using the google toolbar at the moment - its been acting oddly... stopping clicks which are opening in new windows - not popups but clicks. Far too annoying. AND I've shut it down twice now and it restarts itself so tomorrow it'll be uninstalled. Its not made it on to my laptop at all.

Google's treats sometimes seem tricky.

[Dynamoo]

"Where's my site" *****ing aside, Google really *is* screwed up. There are a lot of resources that I could never be bothered to bookmark in the past, because I knew that Google could always find them if I used a certain search phrase.

Now, they're gone and I get some irrelevant crap instead. Sometimes I've had to resort to MSN to find things (Yahoo still sucks though).

The golden rule with Google at the moment - if you find something you like, bookmark it, because it might well be gone tomorrow.

[Chris Clarkson]

Slightly off topic, but had to get it off my chest...

Using Google Talk, when someone sends you an URL, it opens in your last window, very annoying! As far as I can see no option to make it open in a new window anywhere.

And while I'm on rant mode, trying to view or download an attachment on G(oogle) Mail, the bloody toolbar blocks it as a pop up!!!!

Ahhhh......that's better...

Chris

[eurohobo]

It is crazy how google can switch serp's so wildly. It would be natural for a search result to drift up or down a few spots, but not hundreds to the point that you cant find the result you had found yesterday.

I thought this might only be noticed by us webmasters hanging on the comings and goings of google, but the other day I was at a friends place and she barely knows how to turn her computer on let alone understand how google works. She said to me that something was wrong with google because she cant find the same pages that she found the day before.

The only thing now is that google gotten everyone so used to the idea of using google that people dont think of using other search engines.

[Mogga]

Its up to webmasters to remind people other search engines are available.