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Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

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Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#151

Post by marcosdumay »

jsilence wrote: post #81
yyyk wrote: post #50

This is a purely anti-user move. No user gains anything by it, this actually helps phishing sites. Oh, and it happens to help Google's AMP effort, which can now pretend to be the original site even more effectively. Time to get everyone to use Duck Duck Go, and to get rid of those Google CAPTCHAs which are an even bigger data harvesting operation than search.

Would love to switch to DDG, but it consistently gives me search results that do not contain s search term at all, even when I wrap it in double quotes. So they give me thousands of non relevant search results.

It's actually weird to see that in a DDG x Google comparison... But yes, DDG has started giving me results with entire terms removed from the search since recently, and I have to add quotes all the time to get them back.

But at least with DDG we have to option of quoting the terms. Google is much worse at this in any way you care to measure.

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#152

Post by nanaya »

jvolkman wrote: post #136
throwaway122378 wrote: post #3

They also do open most links in their own google.com wrapper. Time to break them up

Is this still true? The html spec now supports a 'ping' attribute in addition to 'href' for pinging tracking URLs. I'm seeing that all results have the actual URL in 'href'. Example (Chrome):

on my firefox, on click, it switches to the tracking url (there's an onmousedown event). It does use the ping attribute on chrome.

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#153

Post by greenyoda »

flyGuyOnTheSly wrote: post #65
jacquesm wrote: post #10

It's still regular for me but if true this will probably be the last straw for me. It's already absolutely impossible to send someone a link to a pdf you've found through google, this would make it impossible to send any link. That bloody wrapper is also a fine piece of shit. Search engines should link to content, not appropriate that content, hide who supplies it or mess with the links.

I was trying to find the URL of Crate and Barrel Canada yesterday on Mobile on Google and I found myself dropped into some google clickbait hell... I ended up in their google maps product on mobile and was clicking around between their reviews, their location on google maps, the opinions of other google users about what they thought crate and barrel was good at, pictures of crate and barrel stores, etc... But I could…

On DuckDuckGo, when I searched for "Crate and Barrel Canada" (without the quotes), their home page (www.crateandbarrel.ca) showed up as the first search result:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Crate+and+Barrel+Canada&t=ffcm&ia=...

DuckDuckGo has mobile apps: https://duckduckgo.com/app

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#154

Post by jacquesm »

iscottj wrote: post #131
Nokinside wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried these Firefox addons: Google search link fix https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-search... Google Search URL Fixup https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-search...

Try gigablast.com Its a great alternative to google.

Ah good one, I did not realize they were still alive.

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#155

Post by microcolonel »

dessant wrote: post #84
yyyk wrote: post #50

This is a purely anti-user move. No user gains anything by it, this actually helps phishing sites. Oh, and it happens to help Google's AMP effort, which can now pretend to be the original site even more effectively. Time to get everyone to use Duck Duck Go, and to get rid of those Google CAPTCHAs which are an even bigger data harvesting operation than search.

Do we have any recourse against this monopoly, other than voicing our concerns repeatedly while they ignore us? Can we launch a class action lawsuit against Google if they harm people by limiting consumer choice, and force us to be tracked everywhere using reCAPTCHA v3 and various other methods? Keep in mind that not sending your data to Google is not a real option, there are several government services, health care…

When it comes to search results, there are great competitors. You can not credibly argue that Google holds a monopoly on webpage search.

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#156

Post by einr »

Sharlin wrote: post #13
throwaway122378 wrote: post #3

They also do open most links in their own google.com wrapper. Time to break them up

Which is extremely annoying when it’s a pdf or other document that’s set to immediately download; it’s rather tricky to get the actual URL if you want to share it as it won’t ever show up in the address bar.

I use the extension "Don't track me Google" to circumvent this. Converts all links to the direct URL on Google search pages.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/dont-track-me...

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#158

Post by alperakgun »

Gooogle quarterly earnings follow each other:

- Ads look like valid search results

- Ads are on top, right, bottom in desktop, on maps too

- URLs disappear

- The address bar shortens the history, and search is the only way out

- Less advanced search options

Rife for disruption.

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#159

Post by zxcvbn4038 »

I’m not sure what Google is thinking here, this is an easy win for phishing sites - not just a lifeline but they are going to flourish. It’s also a huge win for all the sites that are just mirrors of other sites, and low quality sites like Pinterest that flood google with links that only work in their app (which I thought was against Google’s TOS but they have condoned Pinterest for years). the only possible upside I see is that it could deal a bow to domain name speculation - what good is a domain if nobody sees it or has to type it? It’s just an dumb indirection mechanism at that point. Though if domains stop being meaningful to humans then that leads right back to phishing and scams. Going to be bad if this isn’t a means to an end we’re not aware of yet.

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#160

Post by briandear »

MeteorMarc wrote: post #105
paulryanrogers wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Startpage still anonymous? I thought they got bought by an adtech firm

Startpage.com is and always has been anonymous, according to Wikipedia and without any credible sources denying this. Where did you get your suggestion?

On the other hand, Wikipedia isn’t a “creditable source.” I have no dog in this fight, but the tendency to use Wikipedia to prove things is annoying.
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