Comments on: Wikiseek: Leveraging Wikipedia For Web Search, Poorly

By: alithia

alithia — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 16:44:02 +0000

I was very much interessed in your article about wikiseek, which appears to me as the proof wikipedia is not organised at all which reveals it is therefore not at all an encyclopedy . I have quoted the article in my blog http://wikipedia.un.mythe.over-blog.com, in french : the blog is an observatory of wikipedia, made to study its rules, results and effects without any favours

By: alithia

alithia — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 16:34:41 +0000

I am very interest in your article and your critical appreciation of this engine "wikiseek" I consider the proof wikipedia is not at all an encyclopedy. I quoted your on my blog http://wikipedia.un.mythe.over-blog.com , writtent in french, about the french edition . The blog is like an observatory of wikipedia and it proceeds to a strong criticism of the rules, results and effects of wikipedia

By: Danny Sullivan

Danny Sullivan — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 17:33:31 +0000

That particular query does seem better. Of course, it’s still odd that the first three links in the blue box for Wikipedia pages show, then you get two more further in the listings. Either put them all where the Wikipedia pages are “supposed” to be or not.

On other queries, it might not be better. My advice to try searching at Wikipedia was because if you just want Wikipedia info, then Wikipedia gives that to you without all the crud I’ve illustrated some of the other searches can bring up.

But hey, I totally encourage anyone to try the service. If it works for you or them, go for it. And I’m sure it will improve over time.

> I’m sure you won’t allow this comment to be posted, anyway.

Why wouldn’t I? The point of allowing comments is so people can comment on what we’ve written and give their opinions. You don’t have to agree with us.

By: MenloBoy

MenloBoy — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 17:22:01 +0000

Danny

I think you are doing your readers a disservice. You recommend using Wikipedia’s internal search over this new service. I took the time to compare the two. A search on “bonds” using the search engine you recommend yields this:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next »

* Bonds
Relevance: 99.6% – -
* Bond
Relevance: 98.9% – -
* Bonde
Relevance: 98.4% – -
* Bonded
Relevance: 98.3% – -
* Bonding
Relevance: 98.0% – -
* Bond 22
Relevance: 97.1% – -
* BOND
Relevance: 96.7% – -

the sames search using wikiseek plug-in yields this:

Bonds
Bonds (company) an Australian clothing company …Bonds can refer to any of several things: …Companies called bonds :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonds

Chemical bond
Generally covalent and ionic bonds are often described as strong, whereas hydrogen bonds and van der Waals are generally considered to be weaker.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_bond

Municipal bond
Interest income received by holders of municipal bonds is often exempt from the federal income tax and from the income tax of the state in which they are issued, although municipal bonds issued for certain purposes may not be tax exempt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_bond

Treasury security
There are four types of treasury securities: Treasury bills, Treasury notes, Treasury bonds, and Savings bonds . …Treasury securities are government bonds issued by the United States Department of the Treasury through the Bureau of the Public Debt .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasury_security

Chemical bond/Temp
The bonds which are observed correspond to the distance between atoms at which repulsion and attraction are in balance. …The atoms in bonds are electrically neutral and do not attract each other.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_bond/Temp

Bond (finance)
Elsewhere in the market this distinction has disappeared, and both bonds and notes are used irrespective of the maturity. …Bonds are generally issued for a fixed term (the maturity ) longer than one year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_(finance)

Barry Bonds
Bonds holds a number of Major League Baseball records including the most home runs in a single season set in 2001 with 73. …Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24 1964 in Riverside, California ) is a Major League left fielder and currently a free agent .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Bonds

How can you possibly say that this is not a better search result? Perhaps you are biased. I’m sure you won’t allow this comment to be posted, anyway.

By: Searchme

Searchme — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 07:10:04 +0000

Danny and Others – Thanks so much for the comments and feedback. We’ve already added them to the Wikiseek Community Wiki.

We’d love to have you join us, and help us improve Wikiseek!

John Holland
Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Searchme, Inc. (The creators of Wikiseek.)

By: Bart_l

Bart_l — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 19:28:30 +0000

Since most of the people prefer Google to search Wikipedia (their own search is so terrible slow) and without trowing in the rather complex syntax to do so; Google Co-op provided a solution: on http://www.wiki-search.eu you can find an implementation of this.

By: Diddy1

Diddy1 — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 21:48:44 +0000

Wow! Here we are expecting the next Google instead we get slapped in the face with a second rate search engine.

Thank you

By: Seth Finkelstein

Seth Finkelstein — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 18:27:35 +0000

The Search Wikia project is still in the formative stages – as far as I know, the development machines aren’t even live yet (I’ve been participating on the mailing list, and have no more connection than that).

SearchMe is start-up company, which apparently “partnered” to use Wikipedia in Wikiseek.

By: Michael Martinez

Michael Martinez — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:43:51 +0000

The complete and total lack of authority, reliability, and accuracy in Wikipedia’s content makes this so-called search engine a double joke. You cannot take bad, unreliable content and then thrust it upon people as if it is the only content on the Web that matters.

Why on Earth would anyone want to use this tool?

By: gary

gary — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 16:59:01 +0000

Danny, On ResourceShelf I've compiled a post that offers: 1) A look at Wikiseek. I ran several searches (similar to what you did) and present results of what I found. 2) A bit about WikiWax, a cool tool to help search the main Wikipedia database. Direct at: http://www.wikiwax.com 3) A brief intro to Intute, a non-commercial web directory based in U.K. In addition to the directory (amazing quality) they also offer a tool called Intute Harvester. It "harvests" and makes searchable pages from the resources included in the directory. Direct at: http://www.intute.ac.uk/harvester.html 4) Finally, I take a look at how we use Wikipedia content at Ask.com. Often, but not always, as Smart Answers or directly via the "encyclopedia" interface. Disclosure: As you know, I've been at Ask.com as Director of Online Info Resources for about a year. My post can be found here: http://www.resourceshelf.com/2007/01/16/lets-talk-wikiseek-and-wazap/