Searching In Online Databases

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gnfb

1954 posts

Uber Geek

#165641 16-Feb-2015 10:55

This was the closest forum I could think see for this discussion. Moderator feel free to move

Regarding searching on the internet.

I realised that being English I call somethings by names that are different to what they are called locally.

particularly:-

What i call a length of cable with appropriate fittings for connecting a telephone to a wall socket.

"a telephone lead" Other names , for a similar object are "Telephone Cable" "Telephone Cord" "Telephone Lead"

I believe database search apparatus is very clever these days.

Would it be of any benefit or is it necessary to include in the description say,

Telephone Cable Telephone Cord Telephone Lead
Telephone Cables Telephone Cords Telephone Leads
Phone Cable Phone Cord Phone Lead
Phone Cables Phone Cords Phone Leads

To cover all the bases or is it a waste of time?

Is an English Man living in New Zealand. Not a writer, an Observer he says. Graham is a seasoned 'traveler" with his sometimes arrogant, but honest opinion on life. He loves the Internet!.

gnfb on trademe

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MadEngineer

2119 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1239806 16-Feb-2015 11:01

Depends on the search engine you're using. Google for example is smart enough but if you're searching a shops website then they'll likely make your search all inclusive and you'll be searching for product that has all those words.

For Google, search as you feel you should be searching then when you start seeing results for the type of thing you're after, adjust your search to match.

gnfb

1954 posts

Uber Geek

#1240666 17-Feb-2015 10:42

I received this helpful reply form TM

Thanks for getting in touch regarding the differing words for things.

Being English myself, I often struggle with similar things. It's crazy the number of things that not only have different names, but where people don't even know what you are referring to if you use the English name.

When it comes to including those variations in a description, I would say that it would be somewhat beneficial. Our search engine compiles results based on the entire content of the auction body, not just the title, so including variations would increase the chances of your listings appearing in different search results.

A direct example here would be if someone were to search 'phone cable'. If your listing only included 'telephone lead' in its description/title then it would still display in search results, as 'phone' is present in both your listing and the search term, but as it is only a very partial match, your listing would likely be quite low down on the results page. If however you were to include all of those variations, then 'phone cable' would be a direct match between the search term and your listing description, causing your listing to display much higher up in the search results.

At some point you are bound to hit diminishing returns, of entering more variations then are being searched, and this would potentially be a waste of time, but I think that adding a few variations to your listing description would definitely be beneficial.

Is an English Man living in New Zealand. Not a writer, an Observer he says. Graham is a seasoned 'traveler" with his sometimes arrogant, but honest opinion on life. He loves the Internet!.

gnfb on trademe

Email Me

MadEngineer

2119 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1240849 17-Feb-2015 13:58

Annoys me when searching for a particular model of something on trademe and someone has listed an item with whole bunch of similar of related items that includes what you're searching for.

markl

348 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1240854 17-Feb-2015 14:04

MadEngineer: Annoys me when searching for a particular model of something on trademe and someone has listed an item with whole bunch of similar of related items that includes what you're searching for.

No offence to any Trademe engineers who might be reading this, but TM's search engine is APPALLING! E.G. do a search for "Spitfire" and you get everything from Triumph Spitfires to Spitfire Skateboard wheels to Supermarine Spitfire aircraft related items.

Search for "Supermarine Spitfire" and you get all of the above PLUS anything else related to Supermarine. It also doesn't follow the usual search engine convention of quotation marks around a search term implying "search for this exact phrase" either...

fizzychicken

290 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1240887 17-Feb-2015 14:52

very few search engines bother to put the thought into it that major searches do

"phone" Cable OR Cord OR Lead
"phone cable" OR "phone cord" OR "phone lead"

and so on, with the many options you can use, see https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433?hl=en
though in the above scenario I would just go by

rj11 lead

or the type you require, as google will do most of the work on that for you.
regardless of options, the best thing to search for is 'what would people probably call it?' and just keep trying, I hit up Google hundreds of times a day and find quick re-tries are much more successful than being detailed with search criteria.

https://keybase.io/fizzychicken

BlueShift

1521 posts

Uber Geek

#1240893 17-Feb-2015 14:56

fizzychicken: very few search engines bother to put the thought into it that major searches do

"phone" Cable OR Cord OR Lead
"phone cable" OR "phone cord" OR "phone lead"

and so on, with the many options you can use, see https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433?hl=en
though in the above scenario I would just go by

rj11 lead

or the type you require, as google will do most of the work on that for you.
regardless of options, the best thing to search for is 'what would people probably call it?' and just keep trying, I hit up Google hundreds of times a day and find quick re-tries are much more successful than being detailed with search criteria.

I'd go with rj11 cable. Otherwise you get all sorts of results relating to fishing sinkers, diving weights and toy soldiers.