We have previously written about Google's move to integrate its BlogSearch results into its already existing NewsSearch results. At that time, we identified a work-around that would allow you to retrieve Blog-only results from the BlogSearch database's previous incarnation. Google recently discontinued access to that work-around - killing BlogSearch once and for all. Results from blogs can still be retrieved via a Google search but they are far more limited than the previous BlogSearch results. With each new "improvement," Google seems to be degrading the quality of its search results.

Google now recommends retrieving blog results by conducting your search and then clicking "News" (above the results)> "Search Tools" (to the right, also above the results)> "All News" (that subsequently appears in the row beneath "News" and "Search Tools", et al)> "Blogs" (from the resulting drop-down menu). However, the list of blogs from which these results are drawn is not as extensive or diverse as those retrieved by the previous BlogSearch.

But are They Really Blogs?

Retrieving the Blog-only results from a Google NewsSearch for the keyword "Obama" returned results drawn primarily from the blogs of mainstream media news sites (e.g., South Florida Reporter, Tampa Bay.com, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Fox News). Previously, many smaller, individual, and personal-type blogs were also included in results.  

The current results list covers a date range of approximately five months.

Filters Can't Be 'Mixed and Matched'

While it would be logical to believe that you could extend the date range of your Blog-only NewsSearch results by creating a "Custom Date Range" (using the "Anytime" drop-down menu), this Custom Date Range does not actually work as expected.

When we entered a date range of "01/01/2015-12/31/2015" we did receive a new list of results that fit into that date range - but one that had reverted to "All News" sources. Also note that when we used the "Sorted by Date" feature (found at the top of the results list) the reordered list of "All News" results was in no discernable order at all, with dates jumping from:

• June 3, 2015
• February 6, 2015
• February 11, 2015
• October 22, 2015
• December 24, 2015
• May 8, 2015
• June 30, 2015

While you can filter the list back to Blog-only results, by clicking "All News" (in the row beneath "News" and Search Tools", et al)> "Blogs" (from the resulting drop-down menu) - again - unfortunately, the resulting list reverts to "Recent" results, "Sorted by Relevance."

So, you can either have a longer, more-specific date range of "All News" sources or a list of five months worth of "Blog-only results. Take your pick.