While there is plenty of buzz around Google’s new SearchWiki, another Google experiment is quietly disappearing: SearchMash. Once located at SearchMash.com, the service was Google’s experimental search interface, a non-branded search engine that Google used to test new technology.
SearchMash let users search the Internet in different ways. Specifically, it let searchers reorder results and see the top three image results next to Web results. SearchMash also recognized classes of proper nouns and displayed refinements for them and adjusted for spelling mistakes.
New Methodology
Google wasn’t immediately available for comment. But Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, could only speculate on one reason Google made SearchMash extinct: It was no longer needed.
“SearchMash was a fairly low-visibility site where Google experimented with search technology,” Sterling said. “Google must feel they can get those experiments in a different way through more effective methodology.”
Could that methodology be Google’s new SearchWiki?
Google announced the new service last week that aims to give users more control over search experiences. SearchWiki lets users add, delete, resort or comment on search results for any query to create customized search results.
The Genesis of SearchWiki
Google is marketing the new service as a way to “mark up” Google search results. For example, if a searcher is an avid skier whose favorite ski-gear site is in the fourth or fifth position, SearchWiki allows moving it higher. Or if the favorite site isn’t included, SearchWiki can add it and even add some notes about any site. SearchWiki is available to signed-in Google users.
“These modifications will be shown to you every time you do the same search in the future. We store your changes in your Google account. If you are wondering if you are signed in, you can always check by noting if your username appears in the upper right-hand side…