Did You Know Google Now Limits Search Results to Only 300 to 400 Links?
Here’s something new I learned at the Computers in Libraries conference this week.
Google may claim to have indexed a million or more results for the term you’re searching for, but they can’t actually show you more than a tiny fraction of the results. Gary Price, founder and publisher of InfoDocket, told me that Google now limits the actual number of search results it shows you to anywhere between 300 and 400.
I’ve tested it, and he’s right. My searches petered out after the 330th, 349th, and 307th result. The other million or so search results that Google claimed to have found may as well never have existed.
It appears this state of affairs has existed since August 2016, but this is the first I have heard about it. I’ve rarely gotten as high as the 150th result before, much less 300. Usually I give up by the third page and instead refined my search terms to narrow the search.
How about you? Do you think we’re missing out on hidden gems?
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