Google enterprise search goes Side-by-Side

Update to Google Search Appliance enables users to compare search configurations for business data

Google search for enterprise has since 2002 provided businesses small and large with the uncontestable power of Google search on the local platform of companies’ internal networks. Employees of such companies will be finding more relevant and higher quality results after today, according to a Google Blog post, due to two cool new updates to the Google Search Appliance (GSA).

The first update announced, Side-by-Side, harnesses the power of people, in a kind of Web 2.0 way, by enabling users themselves to alter the relevancy and quality of searches they create.

Much in the same way that this Blind Search tool allows people to compare search results from Bing, Google, and Yahoo in a blind test, Side-by-Side gives employees the ability to test out two different GSA configurations and vote on their preferred choice. Administrators, after having set up two different “policies,” or configurations for search, review the data provided by employee testers and then refine their enterprise search accordingly, for their business’ needs and their employees’ needs.

In another effort to improve search results as much as possible, Google also announced an upgrade to integrated GSA connectors, with a focus on efficiently cataloging offline company data with information stored in the cloud.

As the image below demonstrates, the search engine seamlessly merges results from all kinds of different sources, including whatever ECM, CRM (like the ever-popular Salesforce), and other content management systems that a company client may utilize.

The Google Search Appliance has been flying smoothly after the June launch of version 6.0. With clients including Mercer, Honeywell, and Sunnybrook, GSA appears to have a healthy future ahead of itself, as long as Google keeps steadily improving its nuts and bolts.