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Sunday, 29th June 2003

105690129031396602

Web Search--Google
Source: The New York Times
Is Google God?
The real problem here is the ridiculous headline along with the folliowing statement, "Says Alan Cohen, a V.P. of Airespace, a new Wi-Fi provider: "If I can operate Google, I can find anything. I think most of you who read ResourceShelf on a regular basis can guess how I'm going to answer this question. Google is not all-knowing. It's an information tool in a world where other hi-quality tools exist and need to be used. The issue in my mind is why are articles and comments similar to Mr. Cohen's all over the place? I don't think it's because of the technology. Yes, Google does great work but it's because of Google's excellent marketing and public relations team. They've made the masses think that they have it ALL and nothing else is needed to find any answer to any question. Now, that's what I call good marketing. Even more impressive is that they've done most by capitalizing on the value of viral marketing. Furthermore, it illustrates the lack of promotion by the information and library community to explain that it's not always as easy as typing 2.1 words into the Google search box.
* Google is an excellent tool but others exist. Remember this sentence from a May issue of Forbes?
"Even Google's engineers admit Fast and Teoma deliver results comparable to theirs."
* For the professional searcher, AllTheWeb and AltaVista offer numerous search options not available with Google.
* If Google is all-knowing are databases like ABI/INFORM, Biography Reference Center, and the full collection of Dialog databases obsolete and a waste of money.
* Most importantly, all of the worlds (data, knowledge, information) is not accessible via Google or any web engine for that matter. Even if it was, how long would it take for the average searcher to find it, make judgments about it's quality, currency, etc? Other databases, both free and fee-based can produce authoritative results more more easily if your willing to "learn" them. Plus, they just might offer the data in a more usable form. Remember, anyone can place anything on the web and have it show up in the results list of Google and other engines.
See Also: Walt Mossberg's List of Google Limitations

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