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Every Google result now looks like an ad

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Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#261

Post by Analemma_ »

seanwilson wrote: post #176
Analemma_ wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Disclaimer: as I said, I don't work at Bing anymore. Things may have changed in the intervening period and I could be mistaken or plain wrong about things) Obviously ranking search results is immensely complicated with lots of accumulated insider wisdom, but the short answer is that "static" page features (PageRank, how well the query matches text on the page, etc.) are good for pruning down zillions of pages to gen…

> For generating the final top-10 ordering, "dynamic" features like how many people clicked that link, how long did they spend on the page, etc. are the most useful. Do Google do this as well?

I've never worked there and can't say for sure, but I have to assume that the broad strokes of their search engine are the same as Bing's. Bear in mind my response above was a very very high-level description of a really complex system with tens of thousands of person-years of accumulated knowledge and experience inside it.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#262

Post by mobilemidget »

enterabdazer wrote: post #72
lykr0n wrote: post #3

I wish there was a way to directly help Bing/DuckDuckGo/Yandex improve their search results. I've tried both, and it's just not the same. Google I can bang in cryptic queries like > centos 7 tuned no daemon and get the 3rd link about how to run tuned in a no daemon mode. Bing/DuckDuckGo have the article at around 7th or 8th place, but prefaced by a lot of "while technically not wrong, not what I'm looking for" links.…

I felt the same about Google alternatives up until about 3 months ago. Google's results have been declining in quality for a decade, with much more rapid decline over the past year or three. Google's results are uglier and blatantly revenue based. They have now lapsed behind DuckDuckGo in usefulness for me. I fall back to Google a few times per week, with inconsistent results when I need a "second opinion." I'd sugge…

Google always says x many results and when you click page 5 6 or some it is usually empty... not as many results as displayed on first page

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#264

Post by bufferoverflow »

Guest0918231 wrote: post #252

It's funny, because if you run AdSense on your website, Google has very strict guidelines about not misleading users and making a clear distinction between advertisements and your content. However, when Google shows ads on their site, they don't need to follow those rules, they blend them in as closely as possible. Also, what's the deal with showing an advertisement for the same result that's number one? See the belo…

Notice the first search result URL is different from the ad URL. That probably explains why they display both.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#265

Post by ftvy »

Guest0918231 wrote: post #252

It's funny, because if you run AdSense on your website, Google has very strict guidelines about not misleading users and making a clear distinction between advertisements and your content. However, when Google shows ads on their site, they don't need to follow those rules, they blend them in as closely as possible. Also, what's the deal with showing an advertisement for the same result that's number one? See the belo…

>what's the deal with showing an advertisement for the same result that's number one?

They paid for the ad. They probably leave it up as first organic results because some people think clicking ads is malignant.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#266

Post by aaronm67 »

bduerst wrote: post #211
ping_pong wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is hijacking the domain with Google for AMP not anti-competitive? I'm surprised a class action lawsuit hasn't erupted because of that.

It is not a requirement for AMP. CDNs now let you roll your own domains on the AMP standard: https://blog.cloudflare.com/announcing-amp-real-url/ Bing also uses the AMP standard: https://blogs.bing.com/Webmaster-Blog/September-2018/Introdu...

> It is not a requirement for AMP. CDNs now let you roll your own domains on the AMP standard

All these certificates do is make it so Google's browser (and only Google's browser) will mask the fact you're on Google's domains if you sign the file a certain way.

If anything, this shows more anti-competitive practices -- they're adding features into their browser that specifically benefit a features of their search engine.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#267

Post by 333c »

Guest0918231 wrote: post #252

It's funny, because if you run AdSense on your website, Google has very strict guidelines about not misleading users and making a clear distinction between advertisements and your content. However, when Google shows ads on their site, they don't need to follow those rules, they blend them in as closely as possible. Also, what's the deal with showing an advertisement for the same result that's number one? See the belo…

They display both because Google is selling ad space on searches like these, where people search the name of a site. If that site doesn't buy the ad, their competitor will. So sites are being forced to buy ads on their own trademark.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#268

Post by ulises314 »

rolph wrote: post #125
titzer wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is still dwarfed by everyone else 's contribution to the web.

espescially those who actually did build the web with human prosperity in mind

Google is always thinking on human prosperity, for a small subset of humans, of course.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#270

Post by JohnFen »

sukilot wrote: post #234
alecbenzer wrote: post #84

0.02: I really didn't mind the change, I assumed it was meant to allow users to more easily identify "well-known" sites in the results: noticing a familiar icon is a lot easier than noticing a familiar URL. This seems potentially good for both users and sites? I guess it's bad for sites that are currently trying to build up their credibility and aren't yet "well-known"? In retrospect, I'm sure blurring the lines betw…

The icons are unreadably microscopic, though.

Yes, they are -- and as a result, there are many icons that are different but look very much the same in the results unless you examine them very closely.
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