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Problems with the use of web search engines to find results in foreign languages

Problems with the use of web search engines to find results in foreign languages Purpose – This paper's aim is to test the ability of the major search engines Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask to distinguish between German‐ and English‐language documents. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 50 queries using words common in both German and English were submitted to the search engines. The advanced search option of language restriction was used, once in German and once in English, and the first 20 results per engine in each language were investigated. Findings – While none of the search engines faced problems providing results in the language of the interface that was used, both Google and MSN faced difficulties when the results were restricted to a foreign language. Research limitations/implications – Search engines were only tested in German and English. There is only anecdotal evidence that the problems are the same with other languages. Practical implications – Searchers should not use the language restriction in Google and MSN when searching for foreign‐language documents. Instead, searchers should use Yahoo or Ask. If searching for foreign language documents in Google or MSN, the interface in the target language or country should be used. Originality/value – This study demonstrates a problem with search engines that has not been previously investigated. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Online Information Review Emerald Publishing

Problems with the use of web search engines to find results in foreign languages

Dirk Lewandowski
Online Information Review , Volume 32 (5): 5 – Sep 26, 2008
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References (22)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1468-4527
DOI
10.1108/14684520810914034
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – This paper's aim is to test the ability of the major search engines Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask to distinguish between German‐ and English‐language documents. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 50 queries using words common in both German and English were submitted to the search engines. The advanced search option of language restriction was used, once in German and once in English, and the first 20 results per engine in each language were investigated. Findings – While none of the search engines faced problems providing results in the language of the interface that was used, both Google and MSN faced difficulties when the results were restricted to a foreign language. Research limitations/implications – Search engines were only tested in German and English. There is only anecdotal evidence that the problems are the same with other languages. Practical implications – Searchers should not use the language restriction in Google and MSN when searching for foreign‐language documents. Instead, searchers should use Yahoo or Ask. If searching for foreign language documents in Google or MSN, the interface in the target language or country should be used. Originality/value – This study demonstrates a problem with search engines that has not been previously investigated.

Journal

Online Information Review – Emerald Publishing

Published: Sep 26, 2008

Keywords: Worldwide web; Search engines; Languages; Information retrieval

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