Faster, easier, more effective: Google Custom Search comes to IU websites
Aug. 15, 2012
The search tool on IU websites just moved to Google.
In an effort to give users faster and more relevant search results on the Bloomington and IUPUI campus websites, University Information Technology Services recently implemented Google Custom Search, a free service that has been adopted by several higher education institutions. Google Custom Search will eventually be deployed across the entire IU system.
For those who have experienced less-than-stellar search results on IU sites, Google Custom Search is a game changer. It lets you search IU sites using a highly specialized, IU-focused version of Google. And since Google is arguably the world’s dominant search engine with nearly 50 billion indexed pages, IU websites have a solid presence in this index, making it easier to find what you're looking for.
“IU is moving to Google Custom Search primarily to improve the relevancy of search results,” said Brian McGough, director of enterprise integration and chief software architect at UITS. “Our team conducted side-by-side comparisons with both the current IU search product, Microsoft FAST Search and Google Custom Search and found that the quality of the search results improved vastly with GCS.”
Give IU’s Google Custom Search a whirl in the box at the upper right corner of www.iub.edu. Most searchers will notice faster, improved results, McGough said, while Web managers and developers will appreciate its easy integration into websites.
“We’re excited about Google Custom Search’s ability to improve search results for IU campus websites,” McGough said. “We hope this will quickly deliver applicable information for anyone using the IU search function.”
Interested in learning more?
Send questions or comments to searchiu@indiana.edu and subscribe to search-l@indiana.edu (visit kb.iu.edu/data/bcek.html for instructions on how to subscribe to a list).
You can also check out these Knowledge Base articles:
How do I use Google Custom Search on my website?
In Google Custom Search, how do I integrate my Google Analytics account?