[yalimkgerger]

Funny you asked. I signed up couple of days ago, deciding that slash tags should be the best way to get rid of all the crap in google's search results. I was a little confused though. Does Blekko expect me to choose which slash tag I want to use for my query? If that is the case, I think it will be hard for them to go mainstream. I can do it, no problem. But an average user will not be able to. I was expecting some sort of an intelligent algorithm which would decide which slash tags to use with my query. I think it all should be seamless to the user. They should curate the slash tags themselves and apply them to the search queries when relevant.

They've been around for a while. So I think it is fair to expect more powerful features from them. Color me worried. It would be a shame if they don't get more momentum. I think their idea of slash tags is a killer one. I just think they have not implemented enough or going to the wrong direction.

To sum up: 1) slash tags are just brilliant. 2) slash tags should be seamless to the user and be applied by Blekko automatically to each search query. 3) They should build their own slash tags, not relying on crows sourced ones. They should go crazy about this. Doesn't seem like they are. 4) More power to them. I love them

[greglindahl]

Have you tried blekko? We suggest slashtags as you type, we suggest more slashtags after you've searched, and we often automatically add slashtags to your search if you didn't specify one. Most of the /blekko slashtags (the most visible) ones are build by a combination of our in-house content team, and subject-matter experts -- the /health slashtag has an outside editor who's a medical librarian at a major teaching hospital.

Great suggestions! :-)

[yalimkgerger]

Yes I did. And I will continue using it. I guess my point is that a user should not even be aware of the fact that you use slash tags. I mean who cares what technology you use to give better results? Let that be a power user thing.

I also don't get the Facebook integration. Especially in your case. Your focus is on great content. Facebook is junk as far as content is concerned. Before Facebook I used to receive stupid emails with links to funny videos, cartoons and jokes that I'd immediately delete. I have not been receiving them for a few years because all of that stupidity went to Facebook, thank God. What valuable result do you expect to retrieve from there?

Given Blekko's focus on content quality and relevancy, I'd expect integration with Twitter if you really feel like you must do something on that front. Or integration with anything that people subscribe to for great content. RSS feeds come to mind. I don't know if this is possible but an integration with Google Reader would be beneficial for me. You may also try to add social features to your site such as an RSS reader that you can use to integrate to your search results. Again, I don't think this is such a big deal but if you are spending resources on integrating to Facebook, you might be better off spending them on integration with Twitter and the like.

Just my two cents. Like I said, I love you guys and I think categorizing and curating content on the Internet is the way to go.

[greglindahl]

You can turn any search result into an rss feed with /rss, and put that into Google Reader or your favorite rss reader (I use NewsBlur.) This works best with date-sorted searches.

If you survey your friends about Facebook, you'll find that many of them like the idea of seeing their friends' likes and comments in searches. Personally, I don't like it, so I clicked "No Facebook" in the prefs.

[yalimkgerger]

Turning search results into RSS feeds pretty cool but it is something entirely different. What I meant was, to include the pages in my RSS feeds I am subscribed to, to the search you are doing just like you include Facebook to your search.

Regarding Facebook integration. Can you give me a use case where this integration is helpful and improves the search results? I don't think the survey argument is a valid one because our friends are usually not qualified enough to make an informed decision on this.

[greglindahl]

Ah, we've run some experiments with that kind of RSS or history search, but haven't shipped anything.

The use case for Facebook is people who want to search for stuff their friends like. As I said, that's not me, and you said it wasn't you, but you probably know some friends for whom that sort of thing matters.