Go into O2.ie. Search for 'Aino', which is Sony Ericsson's new phone.
Nothing there, the site tells you. Okay, search for 'Satio', another new Sony Ericsson phone. Again, nothing returned. Now go into the 'shop' section. Scroll down and what do you see? The Sony Ericsson Aino. Scroll further and there's the Sony Ericsson Satio.
Honestly, what is the point of having a search box if it doesn't work?
This is not limited to O2. Many, many times I have tried the search box on Vodafone's website to be told that they have no listings for the item I requested. Two minutes of manual searching myself and I find the item. It's a crock of crap.
And it's not just phone operators. When looking for info about Canon's new P-150 scanner (below), I went to Canon's website and entered 'P150'. No listings. Obviously the hyphen is CRUCIAL.
Why do SO many consumer/retail websites have search functions that just don't work?
Sometimes, the fail is deliberate. Pick just about any tech site and enter the word 'Linux'...
Posted by: Gerard Cunningham | November 18, 2009 at 02:23 PM
Many organisations consider the search facility on their website as simply a "search box" and don't actually consider what are good results or the search features that provide good results.
Posted by: Piero Tintori | November 20, 2009 at 07:07 AM
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Posted by: hotel Türkei | January 26, 2010 at 04:08 PM