Google or Wikipedia - Which is Your First Stop? 171
dwarfking asks: "Over the last several months I have noticed that more and more often, when I am searching for information on the web, I find myself starting at Wikipedia instead of Google. It used to be that the first hit on many of my Google searches linked to Wikipedia articles, so I started going there first. I've found that except for searching for current events, by starting with Wikipedia I get a good explanation of the topic of interest and the pages generally have links to other good resources that are right on topic (without the need to scroll through dozens of hits). Are others of you seeing similar shifts in your search usage and if so, do any of you think this could become a trend for the larger community? If so, then what could that potentially mean for Google?"
Google wins (Score:5, Informative)
Good question, but personally I still always start with google. Unless I'm simply in wikipedia research mode, then I can sit for hours in front of the thing going from one article to the next...
Depends (Score:3, Informative)
Although, I've got to admit, there's this extension for FireFox that embeds the Wikipedia entries into the Google search results page. I use it at work, and for the life of me I can't remember its name right now, but its awesome.
Wiki provides instant content... (Score:0, Informative)
Re:Google (Score:1, Informative)
Googlepædia (Score:5, Informative)
With a Firefox extension called Googlepedia, I "Google" happily, and it'll include (if found) a relevant Wikipedia page to the side of the search results.
Google (Score:4, Informative)
Firefox extension: Googlepedia (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Google (Score:3, Informative)
Wikipedia first, but not last (Score:3, Informative)
So, while Wikipedia is my first stop, it's rarely my final stop.
Re:Google (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Google (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Googlepædia LINK (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Google (Score:5, Informative)
reference mode: answers.com; others: google (Score:4, Informative)
If I'm looking for almost anything else, I go directly to http://google.com/ [google.com].
Re:Google wins (Score:4, Informative)
I'll use google if I want to buy something, or for specific sorts of preprogrammed searches, like Google Calculator, or tracking UPS packages, or if I already know something is on another site, and then include the site address in the search. Looking for anything general on Google is just asking for irritation.
Re:Google (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Google still wins (Score:4, Informative)
Try searching for paris -hilton...
Ta-Dah!
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=paris+-hilton&sta rt=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 [google.co.uk]
CustomizeGoogle (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.customizegoogle.com/ [customizegoogle.com]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CustomizeGoogle [wikipedia.org]
I use it as well. It is WONDERFUL. (If you install it; check the options - TONS of hidden not-default-enabled options)
Re:Google (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Google (Score:3, Informative)
middlemouse.contentLoadURL = false
general.autoscroll = true
Set those values to gain autoscroll, and disable the bloody feature responsible for the random page views.