Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Does anyone remember websites?

tttthis.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

381–386 of 386 posts

Re: Does anyone remember websites?

#381

Post by inetknght »

inetknght wrote: post #373
jgtrosh wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please do ! I'll gladly remove this comment if you give an outline to your argument.

Okay, I'll clarify. Is it more useful ? Yeah, depending on what you want to do. But it's also a hell of a lot more dangerous. It's especially more dangerous if you're not careful. + Google Search is about as good now as it was back in 2007. I like that its interface has (largely) changed. + Google Maps with smooth scroll is nice, and its integration to 3d street view is nice too. + 1990s MapQuest without AJAX was nic…

I'm just going to leave this here...

https://tttthreads.com/thread/927593460642615296

Re: Does anyone remember websites?

#382

Post by n888 »

rayiner wrote: post #98
userbinator wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nowadays, anyone with a basic understanding of search engines can find almost anything they want within seconds. Almost anything popular and rather insipid, yes. Try to find more detailed information on very specific topics, however, and you'll discover that search engines like Google have been optimising more and more for the former content, making it harder to find the latter. I don't think that's a good thing at a…

Google is not great for finding stuff. I’ve complained at length about how bad it is for doing research, but recently I’ve also found it’s totally useless for finding things like reviews of products (unless it’s something like the new iPhone). It’s like legitimate reviews are a casualty in the war between Google and clickbait SEO crap.

I agree, totally. I used to wonder why I'd find reviews that feel like they are trying to "sell" me something instead of providing an honest review. It's extremely frustrating and seems to be more and more of an issue (thinking back to the HN thread a month ago - The war to sell you a mattress).

This is an interesting series on fake reviews: http://www.sitesell.com/blog/2017/07/fake-reviews.html

The company became interested in the topic because a competitor was training their affiliates to write fake reviews of the company's product as a bait-and-switch tactic. (They later did a study with methodology that showed their product does a 33X better job at enabling individuals to create high-traffic sites.)

Some of the worst niches, I’ve noticed, are those that have the potential to prey on people due to the nature of needs - health, make money online, pain relief, weight loss. If you can find a fair review when searching on product reviews, it’s pure luck.

I imagine that Google’s AI component of the algorithm should eventually be able to recognize and penalize reviews that actually do the customer a disservice. Until then, some of the suggestions in this thread are excellent.

Hope you find the link useful.

Re: Does anyone remember websites?

#383

Post by CM30 »

Hedja wrote: post #341
CM30 wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wikia seems to be gradually being replaced by self hosted wikis, at least where larger fandoms are concerned. The Nintendo Independent Wiki Alliance (Mario Wiki, Zelda Wiki, Bulbapedia, etc) are one example, the Square Enix Wiki Alliance are another, and I'm sure the likes of the Simpsons Wiki have moved away from the service as well.

Zelda Wiki is hosted on Gamepedia. It's like Wikia but specifically for Video Games and less obstrusive.

Well it used to be self hosted. Not sure I like the move much, feels like they're betraying the organisation they're supposedly part of.

Re: Does anyone remember websites?

#385

Post by fjsolwmv »

zargon wrote: post #348
PuffinBlue wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The quoted string returns just one unhelpful result for me. Contrary to the GP comment, the unquoted string returns pretty much the exact answer to the 'question' as the top result: https://uconnladybug.wordpress.com/2014/04/11/seeds-sproutin... > hormone controlling the seed dormancy is exhausted or runs out, letting the seed grow in the moist environment inside the fruit. This warm, moist environment is perfect for…

That link has nothing to do with the original question.

It's the answer

Re: Does anyone remember websites?

#386

Post by stevenwoo »

moultano wrote: post #143
stevenwoo wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I swear the last five years or more of searching for products lead to the first two pages being fake reviews/ads. Google must make money from this otherwise they would fix it.

Do you have an example query handy?

I just did

washing machine quiet

and 75% of the matches are ads.

Consumer reports was first but it's an ad - I should have stated I stopped using Google five years ago because it was so full of spam but now at least #3/#7/#12 are relevant and the rest are still ads and spam sites for me.

Post reply on HN