We're all guinea pigs in Google's search experiment
SAN FRANCISCO--When it comes to search quality, Google has a split=20 personality.
Google uses a method called split A/B testing to measure exactly what = changes=20 it should make to its main search Web site--both to its famously Spartan = search=20 box and to the results it produces. With the approach, Google shows = different=20 versions of the pages to users and measures how they respond, said = Marissa=20 Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience, in a = speech at the=20 Google I/O = conference here=20 Thursday.
For example, Mayer said, the company wanted to find out how many = search=20 results to show users--the customary 10, or 20, 25, or 30? When asked = directly,=20 users said they'd like more results on a page, but testing showed = otherwise.=20
Specifically, Google found that when the results increased to 30 per = page,=20 people searched 20 percent less overall, Mayer said. After much analysis = of=20 server logs, the company found it was because it took about twice as = long to=20 display the longer results list for the user, and speed matters.
"As Google gets faster, people search more, and as it gets slower, = people=20 search less," she said.
The same effect happened with Google Maps. When the company trimmed = the 120KB=20 page size down by about 30 percent, the company started getting about 30 = percent=20 more map requests. "It was almost proportional. If you make a product = faster,=20 you get that back in terms of increased usage," she said.
Split A/B testing also led Google to refine exactly how much white = space to=20 pad around its logo and other elements on the search results page. And = it=20 changed from the industry practice of a pale blue background behind ads = to a=20 pale yellow background. People not only clicked on ads more, they also = searched=20 more in general, she said.
The subject clearly is close to Mayer's heart. She's an engineer who = also has=20 an interest in the more aesthetic realm of design.
"On the Web in general, (creating sites) is much more a design than = an art,"=20 she said. "You can find small differences and mathematically learn which = is=20 right."
A history of Google's search page
Google's search page, =
with its=20
abundance of empty white space and its almost boastful "I'm feeling =
lucky"=20
button, looks downright ordinary today. But it wasn't always the case. =
Mayer said that back when Google was a relatively unknown 80-person = start-up,=20 the company tested Stanford students on how well they could use Google = to find=20 which country won the most gold medals in the 1994 Olympics. The result: = students would sit in front of the Google screen for 15 seconds, 30 = seconds, 45=20 seconds, a minute...Google was perplexed.
So Mayer would eventually intervene and ask what was holding up the=20 searchers. "I'm waiting for the rest of it," they'd say. Clearly they = expected=20 more of the flashy ads and busy text of other search pages of the 1990s. =
"The very first home page was that misunderstood. People didn't = resonate with=20 it," Mayer said. One woman even thought the Web site was a fake = construction=20 that was part of a psychology experiment.
As a result, the company put a copyright notice at the bottom of the = page.=20 "It's not there for legal reasons," Mayer said. "It's there as = punctuation.=20 That's it. (It tells the searcher) 'Nothing else is coming; please start = searching now.'"
Mayer oversaw much of Google's design, but the sparse start page = wasn't her=20 doing and wasn't even part of a plan, she said. Instead, it was the = design of=20 co-founder Sergey Brin.
Why so minimalist, she wondered? Sergey's response: "We didn't have a = Webmaster, and I don't do HTML."
Google also decided against presenting newbie and expert versions of = its=20 search page, Mayer said. People figure it out quickly, so the company = aims its=20 product at the experts.
"The learning curve on search is really fast," she said. "People go = from=20 'Where can I get spaghetti and meatballs in Silicon Valley' to 'italian = food san=20 jose' really fast," she said.
The complexity of search
Google tries to look simple from =
the=20
outside, but its search process is, as no one will be surprised to hear, =
quite=20
complicated.
A typical search will require actions from between 700 to 1,000 = machines=20 today, Mayer said.
That's grown more complicated as Google moved to what it calls = universal=20 search, in which the regular search results are mixed with results from = its=20 other search areas such as books, news, blogs, images, and maps.
With those other, narrower search services, Google lost sight of the=20 simplicity users need in its haste to bring the services to market, = Mayer said.=20
"The urgent can drown out the important," she said. "It's great we = did these=20 urgent, expedient search indices, but what we really need to do is put = them on=20 the same page."
Indeed, in the longer run, she envisions universal search growing far = more=20 sophisticated, with a page filled with "images, videos, and graphs--not = a list=20 of 10 URLs but as a holistic answer to your query."
Search also will become more personal, with results tailored for = individuals.=20 (Google has begun offering personal results for those who sign up.) One = reason=20 personalization is important, she said: a very useful factor Google can = weigh in=20 its search results is what a person just tried searching for previously, = she=20 said. Knowing that, "We know what you discarded or are refining from," = she said.=20
"We know 10 years out search will probably be a lot more = personalized," she=20 said. "And there will be a lot more content to index. When we think how = to build=20 search, it's important to think about the 10-year case." =
- Tags:
-
Google= ,
-
search= ,
-
quali= ty,
-
Marissa=20 Mayer,
-
= Google=20 I/O
- Bookmark:
- Digg=20
- Del.icio.us=20
- Reddit=20
- Recent posts from News Blog=20
- WiMax =
backers=20
plan patent license pool=20
- HP = settles=20 patent suits with Acer=20
- Bach = touts=20 Windows Mobile over iPhone, BlackBerry=20
- Rediscovering=20 the classic American game of pinball=20
- T-Mobile sues=20 Starbucks over Wi-Fi deal
- HP = settles=20 patent suits with Acer=20
The posting of advertisements, profanity, or = personal attacks=20 is prohibited. Click here to review our Terms of=20 Use.