Google - different results depending on # per page!?

[Slickone]

When I change google's preferences from 10 results per page to 20, I get all different results. Why?

 

[stonecold3169]

Well, one would think that it would just display 2 pages onto one like that, but...

I'm guessing it changes mathmatical calculations. Like all search engines, google is based off of matrix algebra. It performs some calculations, iand then it spits back the best fit answers and matches upon a number of things. Your changing of results per page must change the size of the initial matrix, or some variable held within, would be my guess. (This sound complicated and weird, and it is... it's also dumbed way, way down, so it's a bit inaccurate, but it's the right general idea😛

 

[dr150]

That's interesting. I wonder which would garner the best results in order of importance?

 

[stonecold3169]

Originally posted by: dr150
That's interesting. I wonder which would garner the best results in order of importance?

I would imagine that the smaller results per page would... it probably tightens significantly more the pages it allows in, as say the 20 results per page probably returns significantly more less acurate ones... as the math major in me, I would venture to guess that as you bump up the results per page towards infinity, you will eventually get an infinite amouint of hits back.

 

[CPA]

You should ask him in a week or so.

 

[Slickone]

Well both ways gave me a result that I was looking for, that wasn't included if set the other way. I was getting real frustrated why I couldn't find the result I had gotten before until I changed the # of results back on a whim and re-searched. I had remembered I changed it, but didn't think it would affect anything, so took a while before I finally changed it. Anyway, I think if you set it to 20, the first 10 should be the same 10 you get when set to 10. :thumbsdown:
🙂