Google’s Government Indexing Desire
December 13, 2008
I laughed when I read the Washington Post article “Firms Push for a More Searchable Federal Web” by Peter Whoriskey. I wiped away my tears and pondered the revelation that Google wants to index the US government’s information. The leap from Eric Schmidt to the Smithsonian to search engine optimizer par excellence was almost too much for me. I assume that Google’s man in Washington did not recall the procurements in which Google participated. Procurement I might add that Google did not win. The company lost out to Inktomi, Fast Search, Microsoft, and Vivisimo. Now it seems Google wants to get back in the game. Google is in the game. The company has an index of some US government information here. The service is called Google US Government Search, and it even has an American flag to remind you that Google is indexing some of the US government’s public facing content. When I compare the coverage of Microsoft Vivisimo’s index here with that of Google’s US government index, I think Google delivers more on point information. Furthermore, the clutter free Google search pages lets me concentrate on search. The question that does not occur to Mr. Whoriskey is, “Why doesn’t the US government use Google for the USA.gov service?” I don’t know the answer to this question, but I have a hunch that Google did not put much emphasis on competition for a government wide indexing contract. Now I think Google wants that contract, and it is making its interest known. With cheerful yellow Google Search Appliances sprouting like daisies in government agencies, the GOOG wants
How good is Google’s existing index of US government information? I ran a few test queries. Here is a summary of my results of testing Google’s service with the USA.gov service provided by Microsoft Vivisimo. The first query is “nuclear eccs”. I wanted to see on the first results page pointers to emergency core cooling system information available from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and a couple of other places which have US government facing nuclear related information. Well, Google nailed my preferred source with a directly link to the NRC Revision of Appendix K which is about ECCS. USA.gov provided a pointer to a GE document but the second link was to my preferred document. Close enough for horseshoes.
My second query was for “Laura Bush charity”. Google delivered a useful hit at item 3 “$2 Million Grant for Literacy Programs.” USA.gov nailed the result at the number one position in its hit list.
My third query was for “companycommand.com”. Google presented the link to CompanyCommand.com at the top of the results list and displayed a breakdown of the main sections of the Web site. USA.gov delivered the hit at the top of the results list.
My test–as unscientific as it was–revealed to me that neither Google nor Microsoft Vivisimo perform better than one another. Neither services sucks the content from the depths of the Department of Commerce. Where are those consulting reports prepared for small businesses?
What’s the difference between Google’s government index and the Microsoft Vivisimo government index?
The answer is simple, “Buzz”.
No one in my circle of contacts in the US government gets jazzed about Microsoft Vivisimo. But mention Google, and you have the Tang of search. Google strikes me as responding to requests from departments to buy Google Maps or the Google Search Appliance.
If Google wants to nail larger sales in the US government, the company will need the support of partners who can deliver the support and understanding government executives expect and warrant. The messages refracted through a newspaper with support from wizards in the business of getting a public Web site to appear at the top of a results list wont do the job.
In my opinion, both Google and the Washington Post have to be more precise in their communications. Search is a complicated beastie even though many parvenu consultants love the words “Easy,” “Simple” and “Awesome performance.” That’s the sizzle, not the steak. Getting content to the user is almost as messy as converting Elsie the cow into hamburgers.
Google’s the search system with buzz. The incumbent Microsoft Vivisimo has the government contract. If Google wants that deal and others of that scale, Google will want to find partners who can deliver, not partners who are in Google’s social circle. Google will want to leverage its buzz and build into their comments that search engine optimization is not exactly what is needed for the Google Search Appliance to deliver a solution to a government agency. Finally, the Washington Post may want to dig a bit deeper when writing about search in order to enhance clarity and precision.
Stephen Arnold, December 12, 2008
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2 Responses to “Google’s Government Indexing Desire”
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Steve writes: “No one in my circle of contacts in the US government gets jazzed about Microsoft Vivisimo.”
Steve, you have to speak to others outside government. Here’s a list of acknowledgments for USA.gov and its search:
1. Won Federal Computer Week 2006 Pioneer Award for
“Innovative use of technology in a government program.”
2. Highlighted in The Economist as “A multiple award winner and
probably the best single e-government website in the world.”
3. “That’s what I call tax dollars well spent” (Editor-in-Chief, GCN)
4. “Most effective federal website” – Brookings Institution 07-08
5. Inspired the design of similar egovernment search engines in Norway, New Zealand, National Library of Medicine, etc.
Raul Valdes Perez,
Check out the Washington Post’s love note to Google. I thought I showed that USA.gov did a better job than Google on my test queries. So, MSFT VIV “won”. My point is that I don’t hear from my government contacts.
Stephen Arnold, December 12, 2008