I have high expectations from Google, particularly on very popular searches in niches where information is easy to come by, reliable, and factual. Yet in the area of weather, probably one of highest demand keyword sectors they’ve got, the results just plain suck.
Have a look:
For years now, I’ve heard Googlers talk about and publish posts on the topic of improving domain diversity. It’s clear that’s not happening, but I can’t put my finger on why. As Dr. Pete noted in June, with the Bigfoot update, Google removed a ton of domain diversity and enabled the “big guys” to dominate even more than they have in the past. That’s not good for searchers or for Google, so I suspect it’s an algorithmic and search quality challenge.
I really hope they put more effort into that issue in the near future.
Sadly, Bing’s not tremendously better:
They don’t have the domain diversity problem, but I think “weather.com’s” generic name is being misinterpreted to a branded query here, hence the sitelinks block.
Ah well, at least Seattle has amazing summer weather. I’m going to go out and enjoy it a bit.
p.s. To be fair, Google & Bing have both upped their game on movie results – thanks for that.