Why does Google return different search results
when searching for the same query multiple times

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Excerpt from the website Quora:
https://www.quora.com/Why-does-Google-return-different-search-results-when-searching-for-the-same-query-multiple-times

Sanjay Arora

My company works to make searching online easier.3y

When Google performs a search query, it uses what it knows about you to generate the results. Google tracks things like your search history, cookies, and location to make a best guess at what you might be looking for. It will keep on reworking its algorithm based on the actions you take, like clicking on a specific link or ad. The more data Google has about you and your web browsing habits, the better it can try to predict what it is you’re searching for, so it will continually return different answers.

While its algorithms aim at creating a better user experience and more relevant results, they’re actually creating a filter bubble. This is unfair to the searcher because they’re operating within an ecosystem that Google builds for them. It doesn’t include all results, instead predicting what the user might like based on previous actions.

Suzanne Currie

Writer and science geek with a marketing background. Author has 300 answers and 745.5K answer views3y

Google may return different results for the same query for a few reasons:

1. Google adjusts searches geographically, so that someone looking for restaurants in New York will see more relevant results than someone looking for restaurants in LA.
2. Google adjusts searches based on the searcher’s history and their likely intent. If you have been searching for hunting equipment lately, a search for “to kill a mockingbird” may have a totally different intent (and search results) than a movie buff would find typing the same search term.
3. Google is constantly learning and adjusting their results accordingly. If you typed “orange” and Google showed you results related to fruit and grocery stores, and you did not visit any pages but instead tried searching again, you may be giving the impression that is not at all what you intended to look for. On the next try, Google may assume you are not interested in fruit but are instead looking for the color orange, and return results from design blogs and home decorating stores.

Of course I am simplifying things, but the basic answer is that Google personalizes results and is constantly adjusting results to give what they believe to be the most relevant results to you.

David Quaid

Search engine hacker for 17 yearsAuthor has 1K answers and 1.6M answer views3y

A number of reasons. If you’re not selecting an answer from the first results, Google could be trying to understand what context you’re using - like Wikipedia and disambiguation. For example, if you search for a common name or term that has multiple uses. Google also tries to use different data - like past search history, geolocation, other people’s searches for that ...

Phillip Remaker

Google user since the beta daysAuthor has 11K answers and 80.4M answer viewsUpdated 6y

RelatedAre there ways to optimize the query of Google Search to find what I search?

There are lots of powerful tricks to get Google to cough up more relevant search results. The people skilled in this art even have a name for that ability: Google-fu.

Google does best with keywords, so think of the words that would be LEAST common to appear in a search. If you are searching for an article where you remember the author used the word "Brobdingnagian," include that word in your search terms.

Learn about Search operators

to maximize relevance of results.

• Think of a verbatim phrase that appeared or would appear in a result, and include that entire phrase in quotes.
• If you are trying to filter out a topic, use the "-" operator. If you want to learn about the frozen tundra but you keep getting articles about the Toyota pickup truck, "tundra -toyota" will make the pickup truck go away from your results.
• If you can't remember a word in a phrase, replaces the missing word or words with a "*" and Google can fill it in. This works great for song lyrics and crossword puzzles.
• You can limit searches to a single site or exclude sites from search sith the "site:" operator.

If you have an specific image that you want to learn more about (from, say, a seemingly fake news story), you can upload that image to Google Images (click on the "camera" icon) and see other places where that image appears.

Don't forget to search Google Books as well.