On Sep 28, 11:02=A0pm, Matt Ion <soundy...@gmail.com> wrote:
> jmsa...@aol.com wrote:
> > So here's a question for the group mind...a weird question that my
> > agent asked me, when he noticed it, and I didn't have an answer, so I
> > figured somebody here might.
>
> > If you do a google search -- web or blog -- on my name, and sort date
> > to the most recent, you hit a lot of B5 stuff, some comics stuff, and
> > the like. =A0You see very little on Changeling.
>
> > But if you do a search for Changeling for the same period, and sort
> > date, even though my name is all through those entries, almost none of
> > them showed up on the other Google search, even though Changeling and
> > my name were in the same areas and thus should have been sorted
> > equally.
>
> > It's almost as if Google is weighted to search in some areas, and
> > disregard others. =A0Kind of a weird internet typecasting.
>
> > Whuzzup wit dat?
>
> Search engines generally rank on what searches lead to a certain result,
> rather than simply how often a given word or phrase appears. =A0If ten
> people google your name, and eight click on a B5 result, and two on a
> Changeling result, the B5 results will rank higher on subsequent
> searches... the next time someone searches, they're likely to click on
> the results they see first... and thus keep the B5 hits higher as the
> Changeling hits fall down the list.
>
> Since there were lots and lots of "JMS" searches that led to B5 long
> before Changeling came around, B5 already had a significant head start.
> =A0 People would need to search your name, then bypass the B5, the
> Ghostbusters, the Murder, and everything else that comes up first, and
> click the Changeling links, in order to move it up the ranks.
>
> I don't think (just guessing, really, though a somewhat educated guess)
> that most search engines distinguish names from any other part of speech
> in a body of text. =A0The occurrence of the word "the" is no more likely
> to push a given search up the rankings than the occurrence of the word
> "Joe" or "Straczynski" or "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious".
>
> The most important factor for any search is how useful the searchers
> find it... thus the ones that are clicked more, get ranked higher, plain
> and simple.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

It ain't the ranking...I mean it doesn't show up at all.

Try it. Go to blog search. Type in the name. Go for a search on
just entries in the last 24 hours, since that'll keep the number
small, sorted by date. You get lots of B5 hits, but almost no
Changeling hits.

Then try Changeling for the same 24 hour period. The Changeling hits
will very often have my name, but they never even showed UP on the
prior search. It ain't a ranking question, they simply aren't there.

Puzzling, that.

jms