Web Search: Improving An Essential Business Skill

Google engineers who spoke at an event in Singapore recently say many users continue to use the same search techniques despite getting consistently poor quality results. Paul Mah shares some of their tips for improving search results.

"I attended a short workshop conducted by Google research scientist Dan Russell at Google's Singapore office last week. Besides helping ordinary users get what they need quickly through Web search, Russell also trains Google engineers on how to search better. Well, you'll be surprised to learn that yielding better search results is not necessarily related to being able to craft the most complex search syntax – or being as smart as a Google engineer.

Keep Pushing Your Limits I think few will dispute the role that search is increasingly playing in our lives. Whether to research the latest tech gadgets or to establish information about a medical condition, most of us rely on the Web browser these days to tap into the collective information storage repository that is the Internet."