Shoutcast search is REALLY awful

[blahsum]

Shoutcast's search engine needs a major overhaul - it's not every good at all. Don;t ask me why - all I can provide are examples...

If you want to find most Di.fm streams, searching for 'di.fm' or 'digitally imported' does not work well. Instead, you have to use 'D I G I T A L L Y I M P O R T E D' - yes, with the spaces.

To find the site TrueHipHop.FM you have to search for 'TrueHipHop.FM'. Here's what gets me - the following do not work: 'truehiphop.fm', 'truehiphop', 'true hiphop', 'true hip hop'.

Ditto for NSB RAdio - you need to search for 'nsbradio'. 'nsb' and 'nsb radio' bring up no results.

Maybe, just maybe I'm being anal here. But that you can't even easily locate a major stream service like Di.fm with a simple search? And I was persistent in finding the right terms. I doubt a regular user would be as patient.

[radiojames]

Shoutcast's search engine needs a major overhaul - it's not every good at all. Don;t ask me why - all I can provide are examples...

If you want to find most Di.fm streams, searching for 'di.fm' or 'digitally imported' does not work well. Instead, you have to use 'D I G I T A L L Y I M P O R T E D' - yes, with the spaces.

To find the site TrueHipHop.FM you have to search for 'TrueHipHop.FM'. Here's what gets me - the following do not work: 'truehiphop.fm', 'truehiphop', 'true hiphop', 'true hip hop'.

Ditto for NSB RAdio - you need to search for 'nsbradio'. 'nsb' and 'nsb radio' bring up no results.

Maybe, just maybe I'm being anal here. But that you can't even easily locate a major stream service like Di.fm with a simple search? And I was persistent in finding the right terms. I doubt a regular user would be as patient.

I have never really used the search, what was it like before?
I guess it is a bit hard to make those search terms possible since they are all one word, and unless tags were added to every station.

-James

[blahsum]

True, I do suspect it's a matter of tags or such things. My understanding of search technology is functional at best.

But the reason why I raise the problem is not because of guys like us, who are tech savvy and persistent. The search engine will no doubt dissuade less net-inclined people from really discovering the joys of streaming radio services like Shoutcast.

I just wrote an article for a magazine directing people to good feeds on Shoutcast. As there is no way to link to a station's profile on the site, I've had to direct people via search terms (I did eventually find a way to do direct links) and found the system woefully unfriendly.

I can work around it, but I think Shoutcast should give its usability and social networking potential another look.

[radiojames]

True, I do suspect it's a matter of tags or such things. My understanding of search technology is functional at best.

But the reason why I raise the problem is not because of guys like us, who are tech savvy and persistent. The search engine will no doubt dissuade less net-inclined people from really discovering the joys of streaming radio services like Shoutcast.

I just wrote an article for a magazine directing people to good feeds on Shoutcast. As there is no way to link to a station's profile on the site, I've had to direct people via search terms (I did eventually find a way to do direct links) and found the system woefully unfriendly.

I can work around it, but I think Shoutcast should give its usability and social networking potential another look.

It would be nice to have a way of linking straight to a stream. But with 40,000+ streams, that is quite a big ask! Possibly a SHOUTcast premium service would be good! :stare:

It is nice to have some station info on a separate page, for example on my site. I allow stations to show whats playing, a theme, what artists are played, a big description and comments, Example (http://www.broadcastingworld.net/listen/Distortion-Radio/).

I just think this provides users with a better experience and some knowledge of what the station is playing aswel as a visual representation of the station.

-James :winamp: