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September 27, 2005

Google Claims To Be Most Comprehensive - But Helps Defuse Size Wars By Dropping Home Page Count

Today's SearchDay article Google Says Now Biggest, Most Comprehensive - But Size Wars Defused By Dropped Home Page Count covers the latest chapter in the dispute over search engine size that started with last month's claim by Yahoo to have outdistanced Google in index size.

Google now says it is three times larger than its closest competitor (ie, Yahoo) and is the most comprehensive search engine available. However, it's not offering proof of that through an actual count. Indeed, Google is dropping the famous number of web pages it is "searching" from its home page.

Why? Because comparison counts don't mean much any more, something Yahoo has said itself. In short, Google is leaving it to users to prove to themselves whether it does -- or does not -- measure up as most comprehensive.

More in my story, as well as a long look at why count figures themselves aren't the comprehensiveness metric they've sometimes been in the past.

Want to discuss? Visit the Google Drops The Home Page Count thread in our Search Engine Watch Forums

Posted by Danny Sullivan on September 27, 2005 12:01 AM