Not long after the news spread that StumbleUpon was to be acquired by eBay, Google announced what many considered to be a direct competitor to StumbleUpon. Today I learned once again that this is far from the truth.

Before we were going to report on the new Google offering, Matt and myself were debating the merits of Google’s implementation of their web-discovery tool was and really doubted the usefulness of basing the results on web history.

The problem is that many people don’t use Google t find stuff that is ‘interesting’ to them, but they conduct work-related/school-related searches.

I decided to further test this out. I just enabled my Google Web History, installed the toolbar and added the dice button and decided to see what Google could offer me. Here are the first 20 results I got, why I think I got them, and why they are completely irrelevant.

Result 1: Chicago Transit Authority - Because I used their website to check what times the buses run.
Result 2: Text Link Ads - Because I was researching their site for an article I was writing.
Result 3: Geo TV - Because I searched for an interview of Musharraf
Result 4: Metra Rail - Because after I found out the bus schedule I also needed to find the train schedule after that.
Result 5: Google PageRank Prediction - Because I write for Pronet?
Result 6: SEO Tools - Future PageRank - Because I write for Pronet?
Result 7: Chicago Graduate School of Business - Because I go to The University of Chicago
Result 8: Add Page Rank Checker to your web site! -Because I write for Pronet?
Result 9: Chicago Craiglist - Because I was looking at what countries and cities Craiglist is available for.
Result 10: Search Engine Strategies - Because I write for Pronet?
Result 11: Ping-O-Matic - Because I use the site to ping services.
Result 12: Chicago MSI - Because I wanted to check what day the museum didn’t charge an entry fee.
Result 13: Keyword Selector Tool - Because I write for Pronet?
Result 14: Northwestern University - Because I go to The University of Chicago.
Result 15: Build your Site Map online - Because I reported on automated Sitemap discovery.
Result 16: Chicago Weather Underground - Because in Chicago you never know what the weather is going to be like in another 15 minutes.
Result 17: Pakistan International Airlines - Because I’m going to be flying home for the summer.
Result 18: Google Rankings - Because I write for Pronet.
Result 19: The Seminary Co-Op Bookstore - Because I am a part of a Co-Op and buy books for college from there.
Result 20: Check PageRank - Because I write for Pronet?

Based on the above-mentioned 20 results it would almost seem as if Google is oblivious to the taxonomy of web search! According the the paper, there are three main reasons why people search:

1. Navigational - The immediate intent is to reach a particular site.

2. Informational - The intent is to acquire some information assumed to be present on one or more web pages.

3. Transactional - The intent is to perform some web-mediated activity.

With StumbleUpon, Me.dium, Streaker, LeapTag, and Google Dice, the space is getting crowded very fast. And given the current state of each of these tools, it’s not hard to see why StumbleUpon is number one.

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