[cheryl j (OP)]

If Google can launch wifi balloons into the atmosphere, why can't they fix that thing in Google where a website takes whatever you search for and connects it to their commercial site, even when they're not even closely related.?

[dlorde]

Not quite sure what you mean (are you saying unrelated ad links appear on the result list?), but whatever it is, it's likely Google gets paid to do that - it's how they make money.

[RD]

... why can't they fix that thing in Google where a website takes whatever you search for and connects it to their commercial site, even when they're not even closely related.?

If you mean sponsored links which appear at the top of a Google search, that's how Google pays the rent , e.g. ...

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However you could be describing a hijacked internet browser which redirects your searches ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_hijacking
http://www.microsoft.com/security/resources/hijacking-whatis.aspx

[cheryl j (OP)]

No I don't mean the sponsored links. But using the scissors examples, sometimes you get links that say "Buy Left handed scissors! " but the link is to some business that doesn't even sell scissors. It's funny because it happens when I'm not even shopping for something, just looking something up and I'll get "Kidney Stones! Discount Prices! All Sizes and Kinds!" Usually you can tell its a bogus link, but sometimes it's not that obvious, and it wastes time.

[RD]

...  just looking something up and I'll get "Kidney Stones! Discount Prices! All Sizes and Kinds!"

Ads (vaguely) "related to" your search terms at the bottom of the first page of Google search page can be allegedly can be switched off ...

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https://www.google.co.uk/settings/ads/preferences

but personally I use adblocking in my (FireFox) browser which prevents me seeing most adverts ...

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[evan_au]

Google also collects a large history of your search terms, and looks for trends in your searches (plus everyone else's, too).
If you use gmail, they collect information on all your emails.

So the ads may not be what you asked for, but they may be what Google thinks will interest you.

After all, internet ads don't pay for themselves by just being displayed, but by being able to demonstrate that they attract real buyers - and that isn't going to happen if they are totally irrelevant to the viewer.

Also, with their "Big Data" mindset, Google can run controlled experiments on their entire user base. The number of users is so large that an increased response rate from 0.1% to 0.2% would be easily detectable. These experiments mean that you will regularly receive ads or search results that seem totally irrelevant, but your response (or, more likely, lack of response) feeds into the data model that describes you and all of the other users.

It is only by doing such experiments that they can home in on the subset of their users who are really interested in this product or service (and in the process, may discover that you are in this target group).

By doing such controlled experiments, Google recently provided data suggesting that another search engine was using Google for input.

Is Google an example of "Science in action"?

[CliffordK]

Google had a website called Froogle.

http://www.froogle.com

It has now been integrated with their main website, and you can choose (web, images, shopping, etc) along the top bar.

I actually kind of like it as it can often give a good selection of items available on the internet.  However, there are some items that one gets a better search by using a normal internet search.  Or, I frequently use the image interface for shopping (why did Google make their image searches so SSSLLLLOOOOWWWW?  They were better earlier.)

Anyway, the image based ads from Froogle tend to be reasonably good.  I find the sponsored links (yellow, and on the right side of the page) are always very poor matches, and just ignore them.

Actually, I think Google is doing much better at presenting relevant information. 
If you search for the following information:
"Freezing Point of Water"
"Time in London"

It tells you, and I don't even have to buy Big Ben.  Although, I must admit some of the search results are unexpected.

[distimpson]

If Google can launch wifi balloons into the atmosphere, why can't they fix that thing in Google where a website takes whatever you search for and connects it to their commercial site, even when they're not even closely related.?

Yes, I know what you are talking about. I'll be searching for something like "quantum gravity" and a section will appear:

Ad related to quantum gravity
Quantum Gravity on eBay‎
www.ebay.com/‎
 111 reviews for ebay.com
Great Deals on Quantum Gravity. New eBay Buyer Protection Program.
eBay has 367,723 followers on Google+
Fashion Outlet - Buy, Rent or Sell textbooks on Half - Daily Deals

Kind of funny. Maybe their wifi balloons don't work very well either?

[dlorde]

No I don't mean the sponsored links. But using the scissors examples, sometimes you get links that say "Buy Left handed scissors! " but the link is to some business that doesn't even sell scissors. It's funny because it happens when I'm not even shopping for something, just looking something up and I'll get "Kidney Stones! Discount Prices! All Sizes and Kinds!" Usually you can tell its a bogus link, but sometimes it's not that obvious, and it wastes time.

OIC... yes, this drives me up the wall too. Especially when the link appears in the search results and the site name looks like it might be relevant; but when you follow the enticing link, your search item is nowhere to be found. I use AdblockPlus on Chrome, and it filters out the ad areas, but can't filter the fake results links.

[evan_au]

 I assume that data-oriented websites like eBay have a programming interface to Google, so that if someone searches for "Angora sweater", eBay can return two hits for Angora sweaters that are currently up for auction. This avoids Google continually searching the complex and dynamic data space that is eBay.

However, I have noticed that some websites (eg bookstores), if they don't have a direct match to a title, will just return your search term as a "positive" hit, in a bid to attract you to their site (sometimes in a grammatically incorrect sentence). As dlorde noted, "your search item is nowhere to be found". At least in an online bookstore, there probably is a relevant book there somewhere, if you were just patient enough to search for it - but that's why we use Google!

After a while, you get to recognise some of these spurious websites, and avoid them.

I think this is more the fault of the advertisers, rather than Google itself. But it would probably be a good idea for Google to discourage the practice, since it dilutes Google's famously high hit rate.