Discussion: Google vs. Yahoo

I've been a die-hard fan of Yahoo! for years. In part because BAOC had one of the first O' websites (started in 1994), and perhaps as a result, was long one of the top listed sites on Yahoo with a simple query of Orienteering.

But I just wanted to get some info on the US Champs, and lacking a link, I tried "us orienteering champs". Apparently Yahoo's # 8 was what I was looking for. But on Google, #1 was http://www.pnwof.org/ , a darn direct link to this year's US orienteering championships information despite the fact that neither the phrase "us orienteering" or "orienteering champs' appears anywhere on the page...

This is perhaps the third time in recent months that Yahoo! has hit nothing and Google's found something. Is Google really better, or is it just the fact that I'm only checking Google when I've got a bad Yahoo! search to compare it to?

Never check Yahoo! ... Google only!!!

Doesn't the very example because of which you claim to be a fan of Yahoo! prove that its algorithm for ranking pages sucks?

Go google! For some time now I have been telling people looking for our club website to google "wcoc" rather than the longish url related to Rick's university. Inevitably we are hit in the first few listings and obvious. Just now the first was West Cumbria O Club, we were third.

yah- who? Up until last year, with the exception of Yahoo! Directory (which was not their front line index) all results in Yahoo! came from the Google index. Anything cool about Yahoo! was as a result of Google.

Yahoo! is trying hard to compete with their Inktomi (if I'm remembering right) engine which they baught out last year, but I'm doubtful that they'll ever get ahead of the Google people.

Ok - but how about MSFT's search? It will undoubtedly crush GOOG, right? ;)

I don't know many adventure racers personally, but I doubt they are anywhere near this geeky, as a group. Perhaps we need to recruit more stupid people into orienteering???

Steve (one of the geek crowd)

more stupid people = more volunteers
more stupid people = more meets
more stupid people = more competition
more stupid people = more people to beat

:-)

(To stay on topic, who uses Yahoo! when there's Google?)

Google is my home page :-) I LOVE it. Though perhaps A-pt should be my HP.

Nielsen wrote "Up until last year, with the exception of Yahoo! Directory (which was not their front line index) all results in Yahoo! came from the Google index. Anything cool about Yahoo! was as a result of Google."

That would explain a lot. Yahoo used to have good search results. And I even thought I was seein the word Google in some of Yahoo's searches. Then suddenly Google was a competitor to Yahoo. And Yahoo's searches haven't been as good lately as I remember then.

I'm switching :)

If you do a video search on Yahoo and type orienteering. It will bring up 67 videos. I was pleasantly surprised. Most of them are even of orienteering.

google toolbar with pop up blocking and autofill, yeah baby!