How To Daisy Chain Related Terms With The Google Search Appliance
July 14th, 2009
We recently encountered an issue with database content on a Google Search Appliance implementation. The client had used wild cards to describe their data. The system could interpret these into the particular items, but the sku 8% did not mean anything to the client. This sku additional represented a brand name. People are more likely to type in the brand name than a partial SKU.
Query Expansion
The Appliance has the feature to make terms related. For example Apple and Apples can both mean the same thing. In our case, we can make model 8A equal to the brand name. However we can make 8% mean the brand name. Also the appliance will not daisy chain query expansion related terms…ie. X means Y means Z. So X means Z. Also since it was a wild card X could mean A could mean B…and Z does not equal B.
The Solution
The solution was to employ a SEO trick. We expanded the 8% in a feed to mean all of the possible combinations of the base Sku. We then made those base SKUs related to their brands. Simple, yet effective.
8% = “8A 8B 8C and so on
