On Sat, 08 Aug 2009 09:49:17 +0100, Lester Caine <les...@lsces.co.uk> wrote: > David Earl wrote: >> Lester Caine wrote: >>> maning sambale wrote: >>>> For example, I search a POI in "G" and it points me to an OSM node. >>> >>> The simple answer has to be no. >> >> But the complicated answer is yes: in that I am working on the >> namefinder index to make it available through URLs (and a set of >> gazetteer pages). Though the first step is to get the index updated >> again, which is proving to be hard at the moment. > > But that will only provide what you include in the namefinder? And given > the > crap going on in most search engines, it's unlikely the results will be > displayed anywhere near the top with just a single text match? Google uses algorithms to vectorize how reliable a source of information is, and given its name and how it is built, namefinder might get a prety high score. I guess most modern search engines have the same approach as google to make the most interesting searches appear at the top of the list. Of course there will be a difference in the occurance of a big place compared to a little place. There are millions of references to London on the net, while not that many of Pitlochry. That meaning a search for London might not give any OSM returns unless OSM becomes a featured site, while a search for Pitlochry probably will return a OSM link.
A wiki page describing the mapping progress of a place such as Pitlochry will even more increase that chance, and with even firther and more advanced algorithms, google can choose to group similar search phrases with almost identical possitions, so that it doesn't matter if the links to London points north or south of the Thames. The question then is how far have Google and other search engines come in enhancing such algoritms? -- Brgds Aun Johnsen via Webmail _______________________________________________ talk mailing list talk@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk