Search References/Lists

When the search query suggests results that may involve a list, Google will show what it calls the “top references” for the query. This may show up for searches such as “greek philosophers,” “american authors” and — as shown below — “seattle neighborhoods.”

That display may appear anywhere on the first page of search results. But, if the user clicks on “Ballard” or one of the other names on the list, it generates a search for that person/item and the list of references moves to the top of the search results.

Artist Searches

Searches for certain well-known artists may now generate a list of related paintings/artwork. Google says these related images/links will appear at the bottom of the search results.

Entertainment Searches

Various searches related to entertainment will now show related information, too. Google says searches for TV shows and movies will show related cast members, while searches for entertainers like Tom Hanks U2 will also show new types of related lists/searches. (In my testing, I was unable to see anything new on these types of searches yet.)

Google says it’s using a “variety of signals” to develop these new lists, and the new related search display is based in part on the Google Squared technology.

It might be called an “anti-search engine” because, like Blekko’s Rich Skrenta, FindTheBest’s O’Conner believes that search results have become cluttered and filled with spam. O’Conner wanted to provide structured, “apples-to-apples comparisons” of places, institutions and products with total transparency.

The site aggregates and then provides structured comparison data across a growing range of categories, including Arts and Entertainment, Education, Health, Science, Technology (and tech products), Sports, Recreation and others.

FindTheBest has been upgrading its UI and functionality and today is considerably more usable than when it launched. It’s getting better and better.

This morning it introduced “Top 10 slideshows” and “buyers guides.” There’s a “consumer reports”-like angle here except that the content are from a range of third party sources and it’s all free.

Here’s an example of a new buyer’s guide for AT&T smartphones:

FindTheBest makes the point that these buyers guides are not generic but highly specific (e.g., California Colleges, Ski Resorts in France). Here’s an example of one of the Top 10 slideshows for laptops (which can be embedded):

Find the Best Laptops and Netbooks

The ultimate ambition of the site is to become “a trusted source for consumers to find reliable information free from hidden marketing schemes.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Related Entries

DoubleClick Founder Launches Structured “Decision Engine” FindTheBest.com

FindTheBest is a kind of comparison engine for structured data of all sorts. It’s not an alternative to search per se. In fact it will rely heavily on search and SEO for user discovery. The idea is to provide consumers with an objective way to compare all sorts of information across a range of categories, from colleges to fast food.

Here’s what founder O’Conner said about what motivated him to create the site:

FindTheBest.com was created out of my desire to organize part of the Internet, filter out the excessive junk and present information in a simple, comparable way. While the web is great at making seemingly infinite amounts of information accessible, the Internet can be a little overwhelming in that it doesn’t allow for straight up apples-to-apples comparisons, nor is it transparent enough to allow you to spot those hidden marketing schemes influencing the data you receive.

Here are the current categories that FindTheBest offers comparison data for:

• Arts and Entertainment
• Business and Economy
• Education
• Health
• Reference
• Science
• Society
• Sports and Recreation
• Technology

The metaphor, as the video below suggests, is travel meta search (e.g., Kayak).

After a user does a search or picks a category of interest, she’s presented with a semi-wonky spreadsheet-like display of factual information. Here’s an example comparison for the nutritional information of McDonald’s burgers:

A menu, so to speak, on the left allows users to filter and refine the comparisons — in this case by type of food item, as well as by calories, fat, cholesterol and so on — just as with product or travel search sites. These topic-specific data sets are called “comparison apps” by O’Connor.

O’Connor told us that the data come from a broad range of sources, including government databases, private sources the site’s own researchers and, eventually, users. FindTheBest uses a mix of machines and humans to clean and present the data in a more structured and “consumable way,” with automation being the objective, if possible.

Here’s another comparison of the most recent World Cup champions:

Right now FindTheBest offers 336 “comparison apps” in nine categories. These include 31,372,000 listings and 881,837,794 data points, according to the site.

Even with all that information, if it hopes to become a destination, FindTheBest will need to further broaden coverage. However O’Conner says the site won’t get into products or travel, two areas that inspired FindTheBest and that he believes are relatively well  handled online today.

As you drill deeper into the site you discover lots of rich factual information, much of which is very search/SEO friendly. Here’s a profile-level page for the top grossing film Avatar, for example:

Another search-friendly feature, somewhat buried in the site, is Questions. Q&A is a hot area right now (Ask, Facebook, etc.) and FindTheBest has its own version of that, though it seems mostly intended to attract SEO traffic rather than engage users.

Many if not every fact on the site has an alternative presentation in Q&A form:

Beyond SEO, as a discovery mechanism, any of the comparison modules can be embedded on third party sites or blogs and there are also embeddable category widgets that FindTheBest hopes will spread the word.

While incomplete and rough around the edges at this early stage FindTheBest offers structured factual comparisons, to help support consumer decision-making, that one cannot do right now on search engines. In this way, FindTheBest struck me as something like the more talented offspring of Wolfram Alpha and Google Squared.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In short, Google seems to want to explore and leverage Metaweb’s technology to bolster their rich snippet initiative and Google Squared project. As you now know, Google Squared powers Google’s quick answers. Google said this acquisition will help them “improve search and make the web richer and more meaningful for everyone.”

Here is how Google explains future improvements due to Metaweb:

Type [barack obama birthday] in the search box and see the answer right at the top of the page. Or search for [events in San Jose] and see a list of specific events and dates. We can offer this kind of experience because we understand facts about real people and real events out in the world. But what about [colleges on the west coast with tuition under $30,000] or [actors over 40 who have won at least one oscar]? These are hard questions, and we’ve acquired Metaweb because we believe working together we’ll be able to provide better answers.

To me, this seems like an automated and scalable version of Wolfram Alpha.

Here is a brief video explaining Metaweb.

You can see this yourself by visiting google.com on your iPhone, Palm WebOS or Android-powered device in English. Here is an example on [star wars release date:

When you tap on “show sources,” you will see:

For example, a search on [iron man 2 release date] returns a one box with an answer. Now, Google shows a “sources” link that can be expanded. This little feature is powered from the year-old Google Square. Here is a picture:

Also, if you do a search on [zebra] and look at the left hand menu, you will notice a section named “something different.” That also is powered by Google Square. Here is a picture:

I should note that the “according to” results is not new, they have been around since 2004. What is new is how the information is sourced and now displayed.

Google Squared takes a search query and tried to present the results in tabular form — like an online spreadsheet of sorts. Sometimes it works very well and provides interesting results, and other times not so much. Here’s a screenshot of the “very well” example, a search for [u2 albums]:

Squared is very configurable; you can add and delete rows and/or columns, and sometimes replace data that Squared puts in your results. It’s a search tool that’s still part of Google Labs, and frankly, its overall usefulness is questionable. But that, presumably, is exactly what Google Labs is for — testing new ideas and seeing what sticks.

An official announcement of today’s launch is expected soon.

Update: Here’s the official announcement.