Google Suggest Moving Into Homepage
Posted: August 29th, 2008
After spending years frolicking in Google Labs, the real-time suggestion feature dubbed "Google Suggest" will be making a permanent home on the search giant’s homepage by default. This doesn’t come as a surprise, as this sort of search tool is a great benefit to searchers whose memories aren’t the best or can’t think on their feet. What does come as a surprise is how long it took Google Suggest to make it out of Labs, as Yahoo’s "Search Assist" feature has been running for some time now on Yahoo’s homepage.
Unfortunately, I believe that such a tool is to the detriment of society, as most people’s vocabularies are shrinking already, and finding a good wordsmith is becoming ever so difficult. At least the "Did you mean…" feature offered people the chance to learn how to spell, while Google Suggest simply gives them the answer. Perhaps I’m being too pedantic again.
Anyway, the benefits of Google Suggest are as follows:
Minimize Spelling Mistakes
Typing in "search engine panle" would produce "search engine panel" as an option. Alternative spellings and misspellings operate on the same "Did you mean" technology.
Query Generation
Instead of just typing in "taverns in springfield," more precise options will automatically be generated, such as "taverns in springfield illinois" or "taverns in springfield arizona." Google Suggest will also automatically generate a list of songs if you type in a musical artist’s name.
Less Typing Required
Google Suggest can also be used as an auto-completion tool, and less typing is required for longer search queries. For example, instead of typing out all 34 characters of "supercalafragilisticexpialadotious," you can merely type "supercala," and Google will suggest "supercalafragilisticexpialadotious." Oh joy!
I really admire your example. Mark my words: Yahoo hits Back! Just wait and see. I already like surfing on Yahoo better than on Google.
I tend to agree. There is apathy in our ability to spell.
Since the explosion of SMS our ability to spell has further been hampered. I have since now had to learn a new language if I was to continue to communicate with the important people in my life. TTFN :).
Thanks for being top dropper on my blog