Why when I search amazon for x-men am I presented with the following list of products?
X2-Xmen United dvd (fine)
Men’s performance fleece pullovers from old navy
Coat from timberland
and a Jersey for the Denver Nuggets?!!!?
I’m sort of insulted that Amazon thinks people looking for X-men are fans of the Denver Nuggets.
8:44 am on December 5th, 2003 1
It’s probably because they have the jersey in an XL Men’s size. Personally, I think that Amazon’s basic search has gone down the tubes as far as accuracy in the results. Before search inside the book became the default for the basic search (the one that doesn’t require three or four clicks to get to it), I could type in part of a title or an author’s name and find what I was looking for on the first page, if not in the first few results.
9:03 am on December 5th, 2003 2
Yes, I do think that making the “search within a book” the default has totally messed up the search results, especially if you are looking for something using only one or two words.
4:59 pm on December 5th, 2003 3
I wonder if your search had anything to do with my Hanukkah present…I can only hope. I’ve also noticed that the searches on amazon have been kinda wacked, it takes you about 3 tries to actually find what you’re looking for.
5:09 pm on December 5th, 2003 4
Amazon has (as typical with many supposed upgrades) ruined their search function. I’ve found that it’s nearly impossible to find anything there anymore without an ISBN#, Manufacturer’s model number, or a UPC, all of which defeats the purpose of the search. If I had that info already, then I probably don’t need to look on Amazon. Oh well, that’s progress . . .
5:40 pm on December 5th, 2003 5
Little D, you are getting something else from me for Hanukkah. But I did order it yesterday, so you should get it in plenty of time!
3:38 pm on December 6th, 2003 6
Maybe I’m just extra-special, but I use the Amazon book search function a lot at work (when I need to double-check the references of authors who can’t even follow APA when it’s laid out in their previous edition AAAAAAARGH!), and I have never had any problem locating stuff.
4:15 pm on December 6th, 2003 7
I think D the Elder, the search function works better when you are searching for something very specific like you described.
If I search for something like “dogen death poem yellow springs” I can find a book with the poem in it. So in that way, it is semi-useful.
I think that for a major shopping site though, you are going to have people doing broad searches for terms or products, so reccomending men’s extra large jerseys when you are searching for “x-men” is a little goofy.