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15 Nov 2003 by Richard Bird
You already know (don’t you?) that Amazon has made “Search Inside the Book” their default *feature*.
When I search on, for example, “FileMaker Pro 6 Web,” I get 254 results! There’s no way. Including such gems as:
-Family Reunion Handbook
-Non-profit for Dummies
-Career Change Handbook
-Security Training System
-Winning Resumes
When I search for what I think is a very specific requirement, the results are a lot like asking for “sex” on Google.
You get the idea. If I want what I asked for (what a concept), I now need to go to ADVANCED search.
Do I just “not get it” (again) or is “supersized” always better?
6 comments so far (Post a Comment)
15 Nov 2003 | Grant said...
You're exactly right. I was beating my head against a nail mat last night doing the same thing.
What's worse (and I don't want to neg too hard on amzn, because they *are* pushing the technology side of things) is they've made the page that loads full-text index results work so that it returns results incrementally.
Type agile software web services in and watch time come to a halt.
The old simple search worked pretty well, full-text should be advance or some other form of alternate option.
15 Nov 2003 | dmr said...
I'm with ya. I think search inside should be an option, not a default. I'm now getting results that are totally out of context.
15 Nov 2003 | Mike said...
I'm thinking they should add "Search using Regular Expressions" to the advanced search box :)
15 Nov 2003 | Andy said...
Again, me too. This should most definitely be a second option not the default. I dont want to harp on them too much either as I use Amazon all the time and think they generally are a great service. So...
I would like to encourage one and all to email Amazon with their concerns. I have found these days that it really doesnt take too much feedback for organizations to listen and make changes accordingly. (i.e. The Belkin router SPAM issue recently)
15 Nov 2003 | Mike said...
Regarding Amazon, I have this obsession with letting sites know when their design is broken. I recently filled out a generic contact form for the Mercedes-Benz website ( www.mbusa.com) and they got back to me within hours. Not some random person eitherit was actually someone from the design agency responsible for their recent redesign who genuinely cared about how the site looked in Safari :)
I guess companies really do listen!
17 Nov 2003 | Cade Roux said...
Recently had a problem trying to find the Gollum Collector's Gift Set of LOTR TTT - no links from the regular Platinum Special Extended Edition - I only knew it was coming out because I saw an ad in the paper - even after I knew such a beast existed, it was not possible to find it easily on Amazon.
