I Dont' Get It Lack of Algorithm on Hub Pages

1. 83

   GmaGoldieposted 13 years ago

   I simply don't get it! I have purposefully stayed away from searching on HubPages because it frustrates me. I now remember why. Why is the HP search page not bringing up the best of the best? I thought we were here to promote Hubbers above a certain score and to promote quality.
   
   MY EXPERIENCE WITH "PUBLIC SPEAKING" SEARCH
   I just searched on HP for "public speaking" and the first result was someone with a score of 52! I don't fault the writer but I do fault the algorithm or lack of algorithm to not support the writers above a certain score level. 
   
   ALGORITHM FOR HP SEARCHES
   I thought there were mechanisms in place to promote the best of the best? Why didn't it work on this search term? Is this a one time only occurrence?
   
   SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH HP SEARCHES
   Have you experienced it too? What terms have you tried and what Hubber Author Score and what Hub score results have you seen?
   
   HAS GOOGLE'S PANDA NOTICED OUR TOP RESULTS ARE NOT TOP?
   Has Google's Panda noticed this also? Can this be corrected?
   
   Is it me? Am I missing the best search terms or expecting too much?

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2. 77

   Aficionadaposted 13 years ago

   How did you conduct your search, GmaGoldie?  When I used the search box just now, with  quotation marks around Public Speaking, and then narrowed the search to Hubs, the first one listed for me was by relache!  The list can be resorted by date.
   
   In the past, I have been frustrated with the search function on HP, but it has definitely improved in the months I've been here, and I have also learned some additional ways to search (for example, if I want to search content by a specific Hubber). 
   
   I do remember some Hubbers suggesting that I use a regular search engine and then restrict the results to HubPages (I think by using "inurl").

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   1. 83

      GmaGoldieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I didn't use the quotation marks - perhaps that is my error?

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3. 67

   relacheposted 13 years ago

   If you do a search for more than one word, and you don't put your phrase in quotation marks, you are telling the search feature that you're happy with any results that include any occurrences of your words.  When you put a phrase in quotes, you are telling the search feature that you are looking for a specific phrase and the words have to appear together and in that order.
   
   What results you get also depend on how you limit your search:  are you searching the entire HubPages site or just one section?  Are you searching by date or relevance?
   
   If you just do a random search, most often you'll just get random results.  A tailored search will more often get you to specific results.

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4. 83

   GmaGoldieposted 13 years ago

   relache,
   That is very helpful. I didn't realize that. All my past searches have been random - at large too - either HP or Google - no quotation marks. I just didn't expect low scores to show up first - doesn't make sense to me - why do we have the scores then? Just for the quotation mark searches? Do our readers search that way?

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   1. 77

      Aficionadaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      This may be an assumption on my part, but I would not expect readers who are not Hubbers to use the HP search function.  My guess would be that if a searcher has discovered a Hub related to their search through a standard SE, and if they liked what they read here, they might continue reading on HubPages.  But in my opinion (only) they would follow links in capsules, in-text links, links for grouped Hubs, and recommended Hubs more likely than they would use the HP search function.
      
      I think HP has other ways of promoting Hubs with high scores and Hubs of Hubbers with high authorscores.  There are featured Hubs on the signed-out home page; Hub of the Day; Hubs that are tweeted; HubNuggets; Hubs on the Facebook page.
      
      It's interesting to me that you associate high scores with promotion.  That honestly never occurred to me.

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      1. 67

         relacheposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I'll second Aficinionada's POV, especially as I don't spend time promoting my Hubs and have quite a few that have high scores and traffic.

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5. 67

   relacheposted 13 years ago

   As someone who uses search but hasn't ever worked on the programming end of it, I don't have answers for your questions.
   
   I do know that I've had several day jobs where my ability to search for things on the internet and find more targeted results than other people was to my benefit.  And it really helps me on the content creation end too.

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6. 64

   Lisa HWposted 13 years ago

   I'm not saying this is the case with the "52-er" that you found, but sometimes new (but good) Hubs start out in the 50's and only eventually climb.  I'd assume there's also the chance a Hub that hasn't been seen (and voted up) and/or hasn't had much traffic might still be a "best of the best" in terms of content and writing.  In other words, I wouldn't automatically assume a 52-er isn't good.  (unless, for some reason, the person searching is only interested in Hubs that have already get a lot of traffic)  I've never noticed any particular dissatisfaction with searching on here.  If I don't like what I get I just go to the next one.  There are people/Hubs with high scores that aren't exactly "the best of the best" (and "best of the best" is subjective besides). 
   
   An author with a high score could easily have a less-than-stellar Hub about, for example, public speaking.

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