Performance changes of two popular search engines, Yahoo! and Google, in terms of indexing coverage and the effectiveness of Metadata elements

پژوهشنامه کتابداری و اطلاع رسانی

Article 9, Volume 2, Issue 2 - Serial Number 4, October 2011, Pages 159-178   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/riis.v2i1.9880

Author

Atefeh Sharif^*

PhD student in LIS, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

Abstract

Purpose: This paper aims to evaluate the performance of two public search ensiges, including Yahoo and Google in terms of their indexing coverage and the effectiveness of Metadata elements on web page ranking.

Method: The effectiveness of the five metadata elements including HTML title tag, HTML Keywords and Description meta-tags, Title and Subject Metadata Elements from Dublin Core, which focus on subject representation of the web pages, were examined using the experimental method. The 93 web pages were designed and submitted in two different time periods; first on http://metadata.irandoc.ac.ir and then on http://metadata.um.ac.ir. The process of indexing of both search engines was recorded. Unique and repeated keywords embedded as metadata elements were searched, and the significant differences between rankings of the two groups were examined by non-parametric U Mann-Whitney Test. The Wilcoxon test was also applied to evaluate the Performance stability.

Findings: Findings reveal the significant role of HTML Title tag and unique description Meta tags in web page visibility in both periods. Duplicate
keywords actually harmed rankings in Google Public search engine and this was stable during the time.

Keywords

Performance changes; HTML Meta tags; Dublin Core Metadata; Information retrieval; Results ranking; Public search engines; Website visibility

References

Alimohammadi, D. (2005). Meta-tags: still a matter of opinion. The Electronic Library, 23(6), 625-631.

Bar_Ilan, J. (2005). Comparing Rankings of Search Results on the Web. Information Processing and Management, 41. Retrieved Oct, 12, 2010, From Elsevier Database

Burnett, K.; Ng, K.B.; and Park, S. (1999). A Comparison of the Two Traditions of Metadata Development. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 50 (13), 1209-1217.

Craven, T.C. (2000). Features of Description meta tags in Public home pages . Journal of Information Science, 26(5), 303-313.

Craven, T.C. (2001a). Changes In meta tags description over time. First Monday, 6(10). Retrieved Oct, 12, 2010, From http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue6_10/craven/index.html

Craven, T.C. (2001b). Description meta tags in Locally linked web pages. ASLIB Proceedings, 53(6).

Drott, M.C. (2002). Indexing aids at Corporate websites: the use of robot.txt and meta tags. Information Processing and Management, 38(2), 209-219.

Fishkin, R. (2005). Search Engine Ranking Factors Retrieved Des, 17, 2010, From http://www.seomoz.org/articles/search-ranking-factors.php#1

Gotlieb, C. ; Eliopoulos, D. (2003). Evaluating Web Search Results Ranking . Online, 27(2). Retrieved Oct, 11, 2009, From Ebsco Computer Science Database.

Henshaw, R. and Valauskas, E.J. (2001). Metadata as a catalyst: experiments with metadata and search engines in the internet journal, First Monday . Libri, 51(2), 86-101pp. Retrieved Oct, 23, 2009, From www.librijournal.org/pdf/1999-3pp125-131.pdf

Lawrence, S. and Giles, C.L. (2000). Accessibility of Information on the Web. Intelligence, 11(1), 32-39.

Lewandowski, D. (2008). The Retrieval Effectiveness of Web Search Engines: Considering Results Descriptions. Journal of Documentation, 64.

Lewandowski, D., Wahlig, H., and Meyer-Bautor, G. (2006). The Freshness of Web search engine databases. Journal of Information Science ,32(2): 133-150.

Mohamed, K. A.F. (2006). The impact of metadata in web resources discovering . Online Information Review, 30(2), 155 – 167. Retrieved June, 20, 2009, from Emerald database.

Namjoshi, N. (2004). Web Information Retrieval Using Web Document Structures [Abstract]. Master’s thesis. North Carolina State University . Retrieved Oct, 10, 2008, From http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/fullcit/EP10011

Notess, G.R. (2003) Search Engine Statistics: Freshness Showdown . Retrieved Jan, 12, 2010, From http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/statistics/freshness.shtml

Qin, J and Wesley, K. (1998). Web Indexing with Meta Fields: a survey of web objects in Polymer chemistry. Information Technology and Libraries, 17(3), 149-156.

Safari, M. (2005). Search Engines and Resource Discovery on the web: Is Dublin Core an Impact Factor?. Webology, 2(2). Retrieved Apr, 20, 2010, From http://www.webology.ir/2005/v2n2/a13.html

Turner, T.P.; Brackbill, L. (1998). Rising to the Top: Evaluating the use of html meta tag to improve retrieval of world wide web documents through internet search engines. Library Resources and Technical Services, 24(4), 258-271.

Vaughan, L. (2003). New Measurement for Search Engine Evaluation Proposed and Tested . Information Processing and Management. Retrieved Oct, 11, 2010, From Elsevier Database.

Zhang, Z .; Dimitroff, A. (2005b). The Impact of Metadata Implementation on Webpage Visibility in Search Engine Results (Part II) . Information Processing and Management, 41 (3), 691-715. Retrieved Feb, 18, 2005, From Elsevier Database.

Zhang, Z. ; Dimitroff, A .(2004). Internet Search engines response to metadata Dublin core implementation . Journal of Information Science , 30(4), 310-320. Retrieved Oct, 11, 2009, From Elsevier Database.

Zhang, Z. ; Dimitroff, A. (2005a). The Impact of Webpage Content Characteristics on Webpage Visibility in Search Engine Results (Part I) . Information Processing and Management, 41 (3), 665-690. Retrieved Feb, 18, 2005, From Elsevier Database.

Zhang, Z. ; Jastram, I. (2005). A Study of the metadata creation behavior of different user groups on the Internet Information Processing and management. Retrieved Oct, 11, 2009, From Elsevier Database.