Sunday, November 16, 2008

Inconsistency Between Results Of Google Search And Suggestions Of Google Suggest

When I type apple developer connection into the Google search box, it returns http://developer.apple.com/ as the top result (and I'm Feeling Lucky button takes one to this URL). However, when I type the same query into the address/location bar of Google Chrome, the inbuilt Google Suggest feature shows me http://developer.apple.com/iphone/ as the suggested URL.

The joy of using Google and Chrome gets marred due to this inconsistency. I've been using Google for years now, and I'm used to typing certain queries, only to expect certain results at fixed positions in the SERP that Google returns. I'm also quite used to the Browse By Name feature in Firefox, and expect that if a particular query typed into the location bar of Firefox takes me to a specific URL (because of the Browse By Name feature), then the same query typed into the location bar of Chrome should return the same URL as a suggestion.

This, after all, makes perfect sense!

The screenshots below show the inconsistency:-
I just noticed that all the visible bookmarks in the Bookmarks Toolbar of my install of Chrome point to Google properties! A sign of things to come?