This week we replaced the University website’s main search facility - Google - with a new search engine called Funnelback.
You may have noticed that the University website’s main search facility changed this week.
Why have we replaced Google?
Funnelback has significant advantages over Google, including:
- The ability to refine a search by Degree Programmes, People, For Staff, For Students, News, Events, and Maps
- Improved control over indexing and ranking of results
- Enhanced features such as recommending similar results, suggesting queries, and delivering appropriate content based on user behaviour
- Delivery of search results for users in countries where Google is blocked, e.g. China
- Advanced analytics and powerful reporting tools to help us learn how pages are performing, how visitors are searching, and what content is most relevant and important to them
- Removing the risk of Google adding adverts to our website in future
How does Funnelback work?
Funnelback uses machine learning technology to build its search results. It automatically records interactions such as search queries and user behaviour to refine results, bringing the best and most popular content to the surface.
This means that our new search engine will need time to learn, so results may not initially appear as you expect. However, the more we use it over the coming months, the more intelligent it will become and the more contextualised its search results will be.
Want to find out more?
Send your questions and comments about Funnelback to
web-team@abdn.ac.uk