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“Pinterest needs to be removed from Google IMO”

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Re: “Pinterest needs to be removed from Google IMO”

#271

Post by jypepin »

rosegold wrote: post #267
jypepin wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed on this. What's surprising to meis their success despite the logged in experience not being better at all. We're getting married, so my fiancée is (obviously) using pinterest for everything - her dress, themes, you name it. And the wedding planner we work with uses Pinterest too, we (try) to share it with them so they get an idea. Even such a simple feature as sharing a board is a nightmare and wastes 5-10 min…

Happy to help you share a board or pin from outside Pinterest. I've absolutely never had a problem with any of the things you mention. My problem with Pinterest is that it is way too commercial now with lots of links to buy and spam contained within images. I used to enjoy it but not so much now.

but you are the average HN user right? I'm sure I'd be able to share a board easily to you if I wanted to.

What I witnessed is constant struggle between my 30yo fiancee and our 50yo wedding planner. It happened multiple time, so there is an obvious issue either on the sharer's side or on the receiver side.

Re: “Pinterest needs to be removed from Google IMO”

#272

Post by wpietri »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #242
wpietri wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the things that makes me a little bonkers is when people A/B test, find something that works well for, say, 50% of the people, and then dust off their hands and call it done. Because 50% is a lot of people, so it must be good. I'd rather that they ask, "Hey, is there something that would be good for the other half of the users?" Software being infinitely soft, we can often find ways to serve both groups. If Pi…

50% is overselling the success rate of login-walls from Google Images by a lot - probably multiple orders of magnitude. And I think you're significantly misrepresenting the A/B test's goal. It's not to find what works best for the most people, it's to find what works best for the company running the test. If a login wall causes an account creation from 0.5% of people presented with the bait-and-switch, that's not com…

Yes, I made up an example for simplicity's sake. And my exact critique is that they don't work best for the company in the long term, because the people using them are often obsessively focused on the short term metrics.

The bait and switch may get them 0.5% signups instead of 0.1% for that interaction. But rarely do people ask, "What distinguishes the people who signed up? What effect are we having on the people who don't sign up? Can we serve those people as well?"

As you say, the long-term effect is pernicious.

Re: “Pinterest needs to be removed from Google IMO”

#274

Post by kbenson »

upvotinglurker wrote: post #266
aptwebapps wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess I don't think of them as competitors. They're both social bookmarking sites but the interface and the way people use them seem very different.

Yup. Pinterest is less about saving the URLs/pages, than about curating a selection of pictures and visually displaying them in a fashion-magazine looking manner. Pinboard doesn't do that last I checked.

Actually, plenty of people use Pinterest as a way to save curated lists of URLs/pages. My daughters use Pinterest to make Christmas lists. my wife has used it to save interesting looking recipes. Sometimes the display is core, sometimes it's a nicety that makes it easier to browse.

I would hazard that the number of people looking to save bookmarks online easily is a couple orders of magnitude more than those looking for fashion magazine layout, at least.

Beyond that, it's pretty easy to slice up aspects of two companies so they are or are not competitors. I think Pinterest and Pinboard fairly clearly are (and since Pinterest is often mentioned along with Pinboard, I assume others think so as well).

Re: “Pinterest needs to be removed from Google IMO”

#275

Post by gianpaj »

adventured wrote: post #234
on_and_off wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My 2 cents : they are popular because they are pretty much the only ones in that pretty specific space. It does not explain why no other company has tried to copycat them though.

A vast array of companies tried to copy Pinterest, after their usage began to soar. They all failed to gain user uptake. For a short while copying their layout was all the rage. People thought you could just copy the layout (as though that was the special thing), throw together the base features, and you might be the next Pinterest. Copying & beating competitors doesn't actually work like most people seem to think it…

I don't think any founder that wants to fix a problem is going to talk about and saying 'making a clone'.

I agree with 90% with you, but a founder will never say the word 'clone' in a conversation with a candidate or VC. If you could buy directly ala Instagram shop button but for the web, you could have a chance. E-commerce can help a lot to bring people to your platform. But Pinterest is already doing Buyable Pins

Re: “Pinterest needs to be removed from Google IMO”

#276

Post by [deleted] »

kbenson wrote: post #261
aptwebapps wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

`idlewords, but that's that got to do with Pinterest?

The comment I replied to noted "they are popular because they are pretty much the only ones in that pretty specific space" while referring to Pinterest. Pinboard is a competitor, is it not? Not at the same scale, of course, but it is an alternative, a paid on at that, and is successful.

[deleted]

Re: “Pinterest needs to be removed from Google IMO”

#278

Post by [deleted] »

jypepin wrote: post #204
adrianmonk wrote: post #159

I don't see why Pinterest does this to themselves. My main exposure to them is through Google image search and links to their site. So my first several experiences were like this. It left me with a terrible first impression. It makes me wonder if the whole site plays games and tries to waste my time. I usually don't sign up for an account the first few times I encounter a site, so in my mind it's a pretty critical ti…

Agreed on this. What's surprising to meis their success despite the logged in experience not being better at all. We're getting married, so my fiancée is (obviously) using pinterest for everything - her dress, themes, you name it. And the wedding planner we work with uses Pinterest too, we (try) to share it with them so they get an idea. Even such a simple feature as sharing a board is a nightmare and wastes 5-10 min…

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