What do you do, when you are trying to do serious research or find important information and all that comes back in the search engines is junk; old content, that is outdated, incorrect, or not applicable due to it's date.
More and more people are making this finding and they are complaining about it too.
Can you blame them? Yes, it is rather unfortunate when you are using a search engine to do serious research on important topics and all you get is old-junk.
Still, sometimes you want the old stuff for the record.
This is why I like that new feature at Google where you can go to the top and expand the left hand tool bar to narrow your search by date and other filters.
Actually, I had this same conversation the other evening with friend.
We talked about all the old stuff that comes up on Google Searches, and the need to find relevant information online.
And we discussed why the most recent listings are indeed relevant, but by the same token it's important that folks do not cover up the reality of the previous period, even if it was only 5-years ago.
For instance, as an online article author and online media content consultant, I could remove all my old articles that discuss let's say the FED decisions under Allan Greenspan, as he isn't the FED Chairman anymore, and yet, those old articles are in a way "ever-green" because they are date and stamped, and they are an important perspective of the previous period.
Why you ask? Well, they give us an understanding of the flow of things, decisions, and potential future changes.
They are part of the historical record in a way, that's of value to the future.
So, that makes sense, but let me tell you of another problem.
Not long ago, a friend mentioned to me that she was preparing an article on credit scores and mortgages, based on rating systems.
All she could find is stuff that was 2-3 years old, and yet, everything has changed, so none of that information she pulled up is worth a darn.
So, in this case it wouldn't have helped to view the old stuff at all, in fact, it is exactly what you don't want to have.
In this the search returns brought back erroneous and for consumers this is bad news.
This is fairly serious because if things are changed consumers, who "need to know" get bogus information, the exact opposite of the intent of the Internet.
Perhaps, this is why I enjoy the new feature Google has, where you can find the information that's old if you want it, and the newer information is "supposed to be" displayed first.
Of course, in this case, where you were doing research on mortgages, the Internet failed her big time, and it happens way too much.
Please consider all this.
More and more people are making this finding and they are complaining about it too.
Can you blame them? Yes, it is rather unfortunate when you are using a search engine to do serious research on important topics and all you get is old-junk.
Still, sometimes you want the old stuff for the record.
This is why I like that new feature at Google where you can go to the top and expand the left hand tool bar to narrow your search by date and other filters.
Actually, I had this same conversation the other evening with friend.
We talked about all the old stuff that comes up on Google Searches, and the need to find relevant information online.
And we discussed why the most recent listings are indeed relevant, but by the same token it's important that folks do not cover up the reality of the previous period, even if it was only 5-years ago.
For instance, as an online article author and online media content consultant, I could remove all my old articles that discuss let's say the FED decisions under Allan Greenspan, as he isn't the FED Chairman anymore, and yet, those old articles are in a way "ever-green" because they are date and stamped, and they are an important perspective of the previous period.
Why you ask? Well, they give us an understanding of the flow of things, decisions, and potential future changes.
They are part of the historical record in a way, that's of value to the future.
So, that makes sense, but let me tell you of another problem.
Not long ago, a friend mentioned to me that she was preparing an article on credit scores and mortgages, based on rating systems.
All she could find is stuff that was 2-3 years old, and yet, everything has changed, so none of that information she pulled up is worth a darn.
So, in this case it wouldn't have helped to view the old stuff at all, in fact, it is exactly what you don't want to have.
In this the search returns brought back erroneous and for consumers this is bad news.
This is fairly serious because if things are changed consumers, who "need to know" get bogus information, the exact opposite of the intent of the Internet.
Perhaps, this is why I enjoy the new feature Google has, where you can find the information that's old if you want it, and the newer information is "supposed to be" displayed first.
Of course, in this case, where you were doing research on mortgages, the Internet failed her big time, and it happens way too much.
Please consider all this.