Google clustering searches

by on November 27, 2006

We’re about to leave for Cardiff, so did some quick searches on both Microsoft’s Live.com and Google. Google offers up a cluster at the top of the results (asking me to refine results, with links to dining guides, lodging guides, attractions, shopping, suggested itineraries, tours & day trips) which is much more helpful to searchers than what Microsoft is offering up.

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen such clustering (AltaVista used to have similar clusters) but it’s the first time I’ve noticed them on Google.

I just tried Yahoo and they have similar clusters, but I like Google’s better.

Anyway, we’re off to Cardiff. Talk later!

UPDATE: Live.com has the same kinds of clusters that Google has, but it puts them over on the right hand side where I totally didn’t see them. I’m so used to the right side being used for advertising that I don’t even look there anymore.

  • On Live I'm not getting any 'related searches' on the right side, only ads.

    Below the Live ads on the right is a 'see your message here' link to the MSN advertising page.

    But Google's 'related pages' results have vanished too. I used to find those very useful, and they encouraged me to look on the right.
  • Chris, we had a great time.

    Eilert, I bet a lot of people do the same. I know some bloggers found their ad revenue went way up after they put their Google ads into their content stream instead of leaving them over on the right side.
  • Chris
    Hope you enjoyed Cardiff, great to have you here.
  • Eilert
    Your comment that you do'nt look at the ad sections any more is very interesting. How many of Google's user do the same? How are advertisers and investors deal with this problem?
  • The "Refine Results" option in Google seems to be working only for places.In fact it seems to be the Google version of a tourist guide!

    http://ideaburger.blogspot.com/2006/11/google-t...

    Jay, from Bangalore
  • Ritchie: damn, I totally missed them. I assume anything over there is advertising and don't look there for most things.
  • Ritchie
    Robert - are you completely missing the "Related Searches" box that live.com offers on the right-hand side? Or are you just saying that Google's placement and results are better?
  • Ryan, we took the tour of the Castle and it was fun, but don't think we got the same guy.
  • Sam Davyson
    The clustering is from Google Coop I think. Or at least it came out at a similar time.
  • Ryan
    Cardiff! Cool!

    Make sure you visit Cardiff Castle, if you can! It was many years ago that I was there, but the tour was fascinating, if for no other reason than the tour guide. He had one of the most unusual speech patterns I've ever heard--at the end of *every* sentence, he would greatly lengthen the last syllable ("Welcome to Cardiff Castlllllllllle. I'll be your tour guide for the dayyyyyyyyyy"). Not sure if he's still there--or if you'd happen to get the same one--but both he and the tour are great.
  • 1. If you're going by train, do look out of the window as you travel past Swindon station, immortalised by Mark Haddon in "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time"

    2. If you haven't read it, you really should.

    3. If you're driving, do stop by Cirencester for a beer - we don't get many visitors :)

    Cheers, Jon
  • Farooq
    to Yakov:
    I like the visual search through tags BUT it's too slow to use...
  • Farooq
    i think they've been doing that for a while especially for diseases:

    http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&client...
  • Croeso i Gymru! (Welcome to Wales)

    I grew up in Cardiff but haven't been back to visit for many years.

    Over the years I've unwittingly (at first, anyway) perplexed quite a few Americans by insisting that I'm not from England, but from Wales.

    I don't run into many references to Cardiff in the media that I read, so it's a nice surprise to see it come up, especially in a tech blog!
  • Rob, did you test our visual approach to refine a search? I'm in London on Friday and would come over for a chat to Hyde Park or other place.
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