Google Custom Search to Replace HubPages Search

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   Marina Lazarevicposted 8 years ago

   Today we're changing the internal search engine on HubPages to run Google Custom Search. We know that search on HubPages didn't always work as intended, and we expect Google to ultimately provide more relevant results for both Hubbers and visitors using the site. The new search feature should not feel very different, overall, but there are two changes you can expect:
   
   - Google will only search Featured content on HubPages. This should drastically improve the quality of content that appears in the results.
   - The "scope your search" filters will be removed from the sidebar. Google Custom Search will continue to support exact username match, however.
   
   The old HubPages search will be available for a limited time and if you like, you can switch back and forth between it and Google Search. Let us know what you think!

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      Patty Inglish, MSposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      At first, I was surprised by the shaded ads at the top and right side of the results list, but then realized that they are AdSense. I think it will be OK and I like the search results I am receiving. Thanks!

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      colorfuloneposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I like it better with the better results.
      So! I will use that search more.

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   Marcy Goodfleischposted 8 years ago

   Maybe I am not understanding how the search works (in terms of benefitting Hubbers?). I just did a search and it seems the results will drive readers away from the site (to other sites that have nothing to do with a hub)? 
   
   I can see how HP can get some revenue for the ad clicks - but it takes traffic away from the site, right?

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      Marina Lazarevicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Google Custom Search should benefit anyone using search on HubPages because the results will be better (higher quality since only Featured content will be searched) and more relevant. There are text ads, however, which if clicked on, will take people off of HubPages. We're still fine-tuning some things though.

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         Writer Foxposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         You can get the same feature without ads, which would be a better user experience:
         https://www.google.com/work/search/products/gss.html

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            Marcy Goodfleischposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks for posting that info, WF - I'd like to know the rationale for installing the version that has ads. I am sure HP will get revenue if it drives traffic to paid sites, but that would drive traffic away from us.

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               Writer Foxposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               The one without ads costs money, depending upon how many people use the search feature.

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                  Marina Lazarevicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                  This is why we chose the one with ads. Not because we wanted the ads, but because we didn't want to pay for a product to provide a service not many people use. It's not a very popular feature on HubPages.

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                     Writer Foxposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                     If the search feature isn't used that much, it's only $100 a year to get the feature without advertising.  Not a big expense.

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                        lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                        It's another source of revenue for HP

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   Lady Loreleiposted 8 years ago

   I would love to see the top section gone. I am afraid that I would accidentally click an adsense link by error. To the side of the screen would make it much less confusing I think.

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      Patty Inglish, MSposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      That's a good point.

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      Marina Lazarevicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the feedback, Lady Lorelei. Unfortunately, the Google Custom Search product doesn't give us control over the number or placement of ads.

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         Marcy Goodfleischposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Oh dear. I hope that works out okay, in terms of keeping readers on the site.
         
         Is there a way to frame the search results page with a header that lets people know there are related hubs at the bottom? I don't understand why we would have an internal search tool that basically benefits Google, or benefits paid sites Google is hawking.

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            rebekahELLEposted 8 years agoin reply to this

              A lot of sites use the Google Custom Search engine.  Because it is powered by Google., I don't think HP can alter what the top of the page looks like.  It may end up having more benefits in the long run.  The search results should be better and faster.

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         sunforgedposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Google Custom Search is highly customizable - far past what you are currently demonstrating in this early example. Im sure the adsharing technology doesnt make it as straightforward for Hubpages as It would be for most of us.
         
         A quick search and review brought this up:
         
         https://developers.google.com/custom-se … /reference
         
         the maxTop* and number parameters would solve this concern as would displaying an alternate search page to logged in users(with ads turned off)

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            Marina Lazarevicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            That's a different Google product. You're looking at AdSense Custom Search Ads which is different from Google Custom Search. The names are too similar.

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               TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

               You guys have totally lost me on this one.  Where is this stuff and how do you use it?  I feel like an idiot, but still need to know.  Thanks.

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                  Marina Lazarevicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                  Just do a search in the box at the top of the page! Not sure if you've used the feature before, but if so, you'll notice it looks different.

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                     TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

                     Marina:  I use it rarely and still don't see where one has a choice as to how to use it.

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                        Marina Lazarevicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                        Here's a screenshot pointing to it:
                        
                        
                        
                        You can use it to search for content on HubPages only - usernames, Hubs, QA, etc. The search feature used to search the entire site; now, it only searches Featured content. I hope this helps!
                        
                        Edit: made the image bigger so you can actually see it!

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                           TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

                           I get that part, but what is the deal with using one type or the other.  I still don't see where you can do that...I don't care to do it, but would still like to know.

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                              Glenn Stokposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                              After you enter your search you will see a button on top of the listing saying "Old Search".

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                                 Marina Lazarevicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                                 This.

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               sunforgedposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               My apologies, assumed HP used enterprise product GSS - which allows for that level of customization

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      Babbyiiposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I can definitely see someone clicking on the ad links by accident. Plenty room for confusion here.

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   Marcy Goodfleischposted 8 years ago

   I agree - It could penalize a registered member of the site if there's an accidental click.
   
   In general, I don't think anything that will take a reader off of the site (especially if they're searching for content on the site) should be placed more prominently than content on the site.  The Google ads should be at the bottom of the top group of hubs in the search results.
   
   As an example of why this is important - suppose someone knows of or has heard of a hub on this site about a particular topic, but they can't remember the exact title or Hubber. If ads appear in the search, they may not even realize they're being driven away from the site, and away from the story they heard about. 
   
   I frequently mention content I know about on the site, and refer people to it. I can remember "HubPages," but I might not remember the title of the hub or who wrote it.

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   calculus-geometryposted 8 years ago

   "filter by hub" and "filter by user" are giving poor search results; in fact, all they do is filter out relevant search results!  try it for yourself searching for an obscure topic for which there is only one or very few hubs. 
   
   the unfiltered search results show what you'd expect, but when you click one of the filter buttons, the search results are a bunch of hubs unrelated to the original search, or only tangentially related.  these hubs only show up because the relevant hubs are in their list of related hubs. 
   
   for example, try it with the search phrase "black names" (without quotes) which was the subject of RonElFran's HOTD a while back.

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      Marina Lazarevicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Good point and thanks for that example. We'll play around with the filters a bit to see if they can be improved. We may end up removing them.

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         Glenn Stokposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Marina, it may be a good idea to set the default filter to "filter by hub" and let the user choose "no filter" if they wish. I say this because I'm finding a lot of old and obsolete forum posts coming up as results with a few tests I've been doing.
         
         In general, I like the Google Custom Search. I use it on my own business site too. It just needs to be fine tuned.

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            Marina Lazarevicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks for the suggestion, Glenn!

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   paradigm searchposted 8 years ago

   Works great. I did a search for "paradigmsearch is awesome" and got 377 results.

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      Paul Maplesdenposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      "paradigm search is awesome" gets 561 results.

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         paradigm searchposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         It's nice being loved.

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         snakeslaneposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         I got 596 results for 'snakeslane' cool...
         

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         Glenn Stokposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Since we're on the subject, I got 4,840 results for Bill Gates.

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            colorfuloneposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            OMG, are you really Bill Gates, Glenn? 
            
            I got 69,700 results for "colorfulone". Woow!

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   paradigm searchposted 8 years ago

   I found a bug! I did a search for "marina lazarevic is a legend" and the search results are still highlighting the word "awesome" from my previous search.

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      Marina Lazarevicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      

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   janderson99posted 8 years ago

   If you want to avoid all the ads this simple search works well
   site:hubpages.com tofu ; site:hubpages.com curry recipes ; etc. entered into the search box - you can store it as a favorite and change the search term at will => "tofu" "curry paste" etc. It picks up subs and ECs

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   lobobrandonposted 8 years ago

   Firstly as Glen stated make the default to filter by hub, there are a few useless forum threads that appear.
   
   Secondly google custom search has ads by default and they cannot be removed. There is another option where you pay "Google Site Search" that doesn't have ads. Clearly this isn't a viable option for Hubpages. Getting some revenue from internal search shouldn't be a problem.
   
   Anyone who has used google search will know that the highlighted links are ads, it also mentions that they are "Ads by Google related to..." If you're scared about losing visitors, that's going to be a bare minimum, but with the better search results, you would probably have many new visitors. So on the whole would be a win-win both for HP and authors.
   
   Thirdly, the problem of clicking on ads by mistake shouldn't be an issue as it's going to be the HP ad code and not yours. There isn't any revenue share there. But as always don't click an ad unless you're really interested.
   
   PS: I love the new search results btw
   
   References:
   Getting rid of ads on custom search: https://support.google.com/customsearch … 0354?hl=en
   Using Site search instead: https://productforums.google.com/forum/ … nS3AQwXOfE

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      Marina Lazarevicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the feedback, lobobrandon!

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    WriteAngledposted 8 years ago

    I use Adblock Plus and this removes all ads on the Hubpages Google Search as well.

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    paradigm searchposted 8 years ago

    Here's a search string for ya... http://hubpages.com/search/?s=why+i+am+ … +of+google

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    Danny Milesposted 8 years ago

    I just started Hubbing so I assume I've been using the Google Search. Seems like it works pretty much the exact same way as regular Google Search which, in my opinion, is great!

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    Top Indian cinemaposted 8 years ago

    It would be very beneficial to all in the long run though initially it can make life tough for new hubbers like me. To not be selfish, personally, I Like the change.

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    calculus-geometryposted 8 years ago

    Sorry if a bit off topic, but does HP plan to add search to the mobile version of the site?
    
    Back on point, it seems to me that by outsourcing the site search to Google HP is implicitly bowing to Google's valuation of our pages (which can be inferred from their placement in the serps).  I imagine that if HP had built an independent site search engine, the ordering of search results would be somewhat dependent on scores (after all, why invest so much effort in calculating them and justifying them to the users?) And yet instead HP is using Google to deliver and sort the results, and Google doesn't care one whit about how HP scores us and our hubs. It rather undermines Paul E. & Co.'s insistence that scores are meaningful.
    
    Just an observation.  Carry on!

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       lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       The google search results are definitely better than the original HP search results. It doesn't mean anything other than improvement. Pointless wasting resources on a feature that isn't utilized a lot.

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          calculus-geometryposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          I'm definitely in favor of the new Google-based search; the old HP-native one always had a bunch of irrelevant stuff listed among the relevant.
          
            It just seems odd to me that  HP insists its ranking/rating scheme (scores) has merit and yet it doesn't use it in the most natural application of a ranking scheme --  site search.

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