One of the most common questions I see from searchers and SEOs is why the total results figure on Google’s search results is wrong or off. If you do a search at Google, Google will show you “about x results” at the top. Here is a picture:

This figure should not be trusted.

Danny Sullivan recently posted a comprehensive article on this named Why Google Can’t Count Results Properly. In there, he highlights a comment from Google’s Matt Cutts where he explains why less may mean more. Let me quote:

I have never seen this explanation before, but now it is becoming popular.

I spotted a Google Web Search Help thread where a different Googler used a similar explanation.

Gideon Wald a product manager at Google Search said:

The more specific or detailed the query, the deeper Google will reach and thus it might show more.

Very interesting.

But I am not sure how this answers the site command issue. I basic site command is a pretty deep natured query, but it isn’t all that accurate. I guess adding keywords to the site command always can provide a deeper search. But both are fairly deep in nature.

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.