Search Result Precision Diminished?

Is it just me or has...

[jtoddv]

Google messed up. Slightly relevant site listings now available.

Last week they were right on. Since this update, I have done numerous searches with plain 2 and 3 word keyphrases and the results are poor. And I mean poor! I used Google all the time to get quality results that were right on the money. They've got no more money. It is like going and playing the lottery to do a search. I have to buy 150 numbers now to find the winning one. Instead of the 1 number it took me previously.

Yes, I am an advanced searcher, and I can find a subject or site better than Joe User any day of the week. But, when Joe user starts using this new updated result set, I think he will notice a difference too.

Result from a searcher standpoint:
All the Web works great. Previuosly I was giving ATW about a 7 and google a 8.5 as far as precision. Now I am giving it a 6.5.

I am going to take a walk over to All the Web and hope that next month when I return the results will be better with Google.

I thought this day might never come, but I am afraid it has. A lot of you are only concerned with seeing your sites come up #1, and rightly so being in the business. However, having a precise search utility is what keeps people coming back. Lose the edge, lose the user... I really hope they fix the situation.

[mosley700]

I noticed an influx of government site listings in the search results, knocking mine out of first place. I feel they must have changed something. Just because a high PR gov't site mentions a word doesn't mean it's relevant.

[jtoddv]

Exactly Mosley. A lot of nonsense.

I mean whenever I do a search that has 3 or 4 words in the keyphrase, and I do not see 1 result out of the first 10 that actually have that exact keyphrase, it is disappointing.

This really blows me away, especially after having real quality for at least the past year.

[6oogledown]

You may say gov't site have higher pr but gov't sites can and will be trusted more than some joe blow site for the rest of time.

Unless we can get hosted on a gov't site we're out of luck. Which is exactly the reason why gov't sites will always rank at the top everytime.

[chiyo]

Government sites have more authority. Content on them has generally gone through much review, and as government authorities are responsible to their electors. BAsically they are no way perfect and there are givernments and governments of course, but their content is there generally because a lot of people voted them in. Same with edu sites. These are sites that are heavily reviewed with policies. They represent an organization of many people. Now Jo Blow's Amazon affiliate site has the authority of one - Jo Blow. Nobody really knows him. He hasnt built a brand like Harvard, Stanford, google, or the good ol' USA, or even Amazon itself or starbucks.

That's why.

Of course it makes for fairly pedestrian, status-quo and boring content, but i guess with authority comes being boring. They cant take risks with their brand - they cant spam without the whole world coming down on them!

[mosley700]

"You may say gov't site have higher pr but gov't sites can and will be trusted more than some joe blow site for the rest of time.
Unless we can get hosted on a gov't site we're out of luck. Which is exactly the reason why gov't sites will always rank at the top everytime."

Not everytime. The page mentioned is old, but it just now came up to the top. It is a gov't report that happens to mention the targeted keyword.
Amazon.com is another big winner this time around. They moved to the top for several of my keywords.