Google Currency Conversion Unreliable?

June 11, 2008 by Reah Guevarra
Filed under: Search

I’ve blogged before that we can convert a currency using Google Search. I use this search feature frequently, and have assumed that it is updated daily, until last friday.

I was watching news in my aunt’s place then, and learned that the Philippine Peso had dropped to 44.10 per US Dollar. I was ecstatic after hearing it since I am earning dollars by working online. For the past eight months peso got stronger against dollar, which by the way is a good sign for our economy, yet not a good one for someone like me since it would mean I will be earning less.

Anyways, when I arrived home I immediately checked Google to see how much I can get from the pay I received recently. (Although I can use my calculator eh?) But then the conversion was still in 43. I wasn’t worried though, that Google hadn’t updated yet, not until I have checked it again several days after. The conversion rate in Google was still in 43 when Peso was already hitting 44 per dollar. In fact, there was one time that I used the feature, and it showed a conversion rate near 40!

This time, I read the disclaimer page again. Google says:

“Google cannot guarantee the accuracy of the exchange rates used by the calculator. You should confirm current rates before making any transactions that could be affected by changes in the exchange rates…Rates are for information purposes only and are subject to change without notice…”

As I am writing this post the conversion rate is Php44.430 to 1usd in Philstar.Com, the online version of a Philippine newspaper,

and Yahoo Finance says Php 44.455

but Google Search says:

So now, I am going to use other currency converter online like Yahoo Finance’s. At least the data is being updated everyday or Yahoo! shows how recent their data is. I still have to click a couple of links though before I will be able to get the answer to my query, yet I would prefer it that way so my next transactions would be a few cents near to the exact peso to dollar rate.

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Comments

No Comments on Google Currency Conversion Unreliable?

Tom D. on Sat, 14th Jun 2008 6:38 pm

Great post! I’ve never really inspected the exchange rate through Google all that much, but it does appear to be at least 48 hours old now that I’ve looked more closely after reading your post.

A good site that I bookmarked is this one at MarketWatch: http://www.marketwatch.com/tools/stockresearch/globalmarkets/default.asp

It has a foreign exchange rate calculator built-in that doesn’t open a new page when you want to convert currencies — it’s really fast, just like Google!

rhea on Sat, 14th Jun 2008 7:09 pm