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Response from Google Tech Lead, Re: “Google May Be Stealing Your Mobile Traffic”

alexkras.com

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Re: Response from Google Tech Lead, Re: “Google May Be Stealing Your Mobile Traffic”

#111
post #102
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AMP content shows up before other organic search results. So it's not really optional unless you want to lose all your search-driven traffic.

I think Google had to do something, publishers overdid it with their crappy websites with 50 tracking links and banner ads. The mobile web was slowly dying and everything was moving to apps. AMP is their effort to reverse that trend somewhat. I haven't heard any better ideas (Facebook Instant Articles is worse imo).

do you realize Google bought and now owns 49 of those 50 tracking systems you mention?

the main goal of amp is to monopolize it further and make that last one they couldn't buy stop working.

Re: Response from Google Tech Lead, Re: “Google May Be Stealing Your Mobile Traffic”

#112
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Happy to address the close button: You are on a search page, you go on layer deep by clicking. The close button goes back. I don't see what else it should do. Mind you that I do understand that a link to the origin server would be a good improvement (and I've stated that in the post). I'm not sure what you find disingenuous. AMP are just web pages saying "HEY I A AMP, please use treat me as AMP". You can publish the…

Any time I see a website with a bar that has an "X" on it (think of all those "this site uses cookies..." bars) I expect clicking "X" to dismiss the bar, allowing me to see just the content minus the bar. If it took me back to the previous page, I would find that behavior surprising.

I second this. Google Translate does this, I don't see the reason for such inconsistency.

Re: Response from Google Tech Lead, Re: “Google May Be Stealing Your Mobile Traffic”

#113
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's one more step along Google's path to eating the internet. Google-served content discovered through Google search rendered in Google's browser running on Google's operating system on a Google-manufactured device connected through Google's ISP and Google's network protocol (QUIC). Vertical integration.

You know the cool thing about this integration ? Any part can be replaced. Some instantly, some take more time because they involve physical stuff. People use the Google integration because it's there by default, not because they are locked-in.

At the moment yes you are right, but if we want it to stay that way we need to do something about it now. I agree that people mainly use Google because it's the default, but if we aren't careful there won't be an alternative left that can stand up against them. The only hope we'll have then is that Facebook, Apple, Amazon or Microsoft decide to tackle Google head on, but in most cases where that has happened in the past Google has won.

I'd already say that in terms of publishing online that Google is the only search engine publishers/marketers care about.

Re: Response from Google Tech Lead, Re: “Google May Be Stealing Your Mobile Traffic”

#114
post #102
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AMP content shows up before other organic search results. So it's not really optional unless you want to lose all your search-driven traffic.

I think Google had to do something, publishers overdid it with their crappy websites with 50 tracking links and banner ads. The mobile web was slowly dying and everything was moving to apps. AMP is their effort to reverse that trend somewhat. I haven't heard any better ideas (Facebook Instant Articles is worse imo).

Google can rank fast pages better. It's perfectly possible to build fast pages with html, but Google wants to own the Internet.

It's like spying on everyone so we can make world safer.

Re: Response from Google Tech Lead, Re: “Google May Be Stealing Your Mobile Traffic”

#115
post #106

Am I the only one here who has never seen an AMP site in the wild? Seems people in the comments are super familiar with the service.

I have never seen one either, but I don't use Google search anymore.

Perhaps you don't use it either?

Re: Response from Google Tech Lead, Re: “Google May Be Stealing Your Mobile Traffic”

#116
post #72

This is a good response and I appreciate Malte's effort to engage publishers, but it doesn't calm my nerves about the biggest publisher complaint about AMP: Google owns the chrome (top navigation) on all AMP pages. This makes it easy to navigate back to Google (why would you ever want to leave?) and other publishers in the AMP ecosystem, but much harder to navigate to the publisher that created the page in the first…

If you aren't comfortable with it, just don't use it, right? I'm probably missing something, but I don't understand how something can be such a hard pill to swallow when it is opt-in.

Is there an option to avoid it from an end user's perspective? It's made google news so frustrating for me, it will go back a page in history or slide to the next story for no reason whatsoever. I have a Nexus 6P, use Chrome so there's no reason for it to act like that other than just being shitty.

I kinda just stopped reading Google news rather than try to fix it (:

Re: Response from Google Tech Lead, Re: “Google May Be Stealing Your Mobile Traffic”

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why we have back buttons, no?

Most (if not all) default browsers on mobile, auto scroll/hide the navigation bar off the display after a few seconds. For most non-techie users this means it's 'gone'. Ergo, they have no back button anymore. I've watched many people just open/shut/open/shut their mobile browser just to get back to previous pages - in many cases even re-searching the same query over and over again. This is modus operandi for many use…

On Samsung Android the back button (↩) is always on the bottom right of the device (below the screen)

For the browser that is back, and if you opened the page in a new window then back means close it and reveal the previous page.

Maybe not everybody realizes that and uses it. I didn't at first but now it's a happy habit.

Re: Response from Google Tech Lead, Re: “Google May Be Stealing Your Mobile Traffic”

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why we have back buttons, no?

Most (if not all) default browsers on mobile, auto scroll/hide the navigation bar off the display after a few seconds. For most non-techie users this means it's 'gone'. Ergo, they have no back button anymore. I've watched many people just open/shut/open/shut their mobile browser just to get back to previous pages - in many cases even re-searching the same query over and over again. This is modus operandi for many use…

But this is just an iOS thing, right? Android has either a hardware back button, or a software back button that's always shown (except for fullscreen apps, such as Youtube and games).

Re: Response from Google Tech Lead, Re: “Google May Be Stealing Your Mobile Traffic”

#119
post #82

Google has their version of the internet. Facebook has their version of the internet. As time slides forward just think of how many users won't know the real internet from these rubber doll versions. Congrats humanity. Your best invention ever and it only 20 years or so to completely fuck it up. This is why we can't have nice things.

People need to own the means of production. In this case, it's the search engine and social network. We can't rely on companies, because they are greedy, nor on government, because it is corrupt. This is what happens when we don't own the tools we use - we are subject to exploitation, others making fortunes on our backs and abusing us by incessant tracking. I'm amazed that there is no federated (not owned by a single…

Correction: There is no federated, anonymous search engine that gives good results.

Re: Response from Google Tech Lead, Re: “Google May Be Stealing Your Mobile Traffic”

#120
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's one more step along Google's path to eating the internet. Google-served content discovered through Google search rendered in Google's browser running on Google's operating system on a Google-manufactured device connected through Google's ISP and Google's network protocol (QUIC). Vertical integration.

You know the cool thing about this integration ? Any part can be replaced. Some instantly, some take more time because they involve physical stuff. People use the Google integration because it's there by default, not because they are locked-in.

> You know the cool thing about this integration ? Any part can be replaced.

How do you replace search ? How do you get competitive against mail, youtube without the amount of data google uses to sell ad on them ?

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