With all the problems with Google Analytics today, I was playing around with Google Analytics as a search term and happened upon image search... There's a fair amount of discussion around authority vs freshness in search results and this demonstrates the problem nicely...

Back in May Google introduced a new look and feel to Google Analytics. So the question is, do the image search results show the old interface or the new interface? If authority is prioritized, then the old interface will be what you see since the pages with the new interface won't have established themselves. But in this case freshness is more important since who wants to see an interface you can't even use anymore?

So here's how things broke out. I haven't shown the entire page of search results in all cases, but the results are typical...

First up is Google - We see that they've prioritized authority and all the images are of the old interface...

Next up is Microsoft's Live Search. The Google in legos blocks is curious (and not particularly relevant), but once again they've prioritized older authoritative pages...

Next up is Ask - Again, older authoritative pages that show the old interface...

And the winner is... Yahoo! Yahoo! has a nice blend - a little bit of irrelevant stuff from Flickr, some fresh stuff with the new interface, and some older, more established images.

Good job Yahoo!

I'm sure the results will differ depending on the search term, but search is always a balance between authority and freshness. It's nice to see someone get it right and give you a combination...

Tags: ask.com, Google, Image Search, Microsoft, Yahoo
Categories: Ask, Google, Image Search, MSN/Live, Yahoo!