Google’s new algorithm recognizes that timeliness is money
http://www.ocala.com/article/20111103/ZNYT05/111033012/1001/news01?p=2&tc=pg
Have you ever tried to find out the score of a football game while it’s still going on by simply typing it into Google? If you have, I’m sure you know how frustrating it is that the top results are from games that were played over a week ago. Well Google has finally done something about that. Faced with serious competition as a real-time information provider from social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, Google announced today that they have updated their algorithm to push more up-to-date news to the top, as well as the most useful results. As we learned in class, at its heart Google’s algorithm is designed to display the most useful and relevant results at the top, which has made them the most popular search engine on the internet. Now that people can virtually receive a second-by-second timeline of events via Twitter or Facebook, Google’s relevance is waning. While still useful when trying to find the best sources for research, people are getting their news from quicker sources.
This intrinsically changes the way we look at Google’s operation. Although our class models were simplified, they in no way took into account the time posted, only the number linkages between hubs and authorities. This new algorithm adds an entire new layer to ranking pages, trying to provide a balance between being up-to-date and being useful. The fact that this change affects 35 percent of searches made means that it is serious business. How far will our society’s need for instant information gratification push Google? Perhaps Google will reunite with Twitter and we’ll see another new aspect for page ranking.