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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

#291

Post by kenhwang »

LeftHandPath wrote: post #260

I've been using duckduckgo and bing for a while now. Google is just a fallback.

I switch to DDG precisely because I stopped being able to quickly distinguish ads from results in Google. Even the "results" felt like ads. Now when I have to fallback onto Google, the results just feel so spammy compared to DDG.

edit: For example, I just needed to look up the current version of Scala. DDG correctly has scala-lang.org as the top result. Google has a snippet from sourabhbajaj.com (incorrectly) stating 2.10 is the current version taking up the top 1/3 of the page.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#292

Post by dessant »

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...

The content is still served from their CDN regardless of the domain. There is no way to serve AMP sites from your own servers and appear in the search carousel among other AMP articles.

Google is strong-arming the entire web to switch to AMP in order to increase their control over the distribution of content, and to be in a better position for tracking users.

The fact that Microsoft and Cloudflare have joined the party does not change the fact that you're about to lose control over your own content if this is not stopped.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#293

Post by noja »

cytzol wrote: post #26

I've been in this A/B test for a couple of months now, so I've had time to adjust, and I still hate it. I've just become so used to seeing the complete URL in green. The complete URL! If you hover over the results, you'll see that they like to take bits like numeric components or the query string out. This is part of Google's attempt to de-prioritise the URL. Their destructive AMP service confusingly shows you Google…

I can't mentally parse the results anywhere near as fast as I used to be able to. It's horrible.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#294

Post by bryanrasmussen »

bduerst wrote: post #255
dehrmann wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For branded keywords, it's not just shady, it's racketeering. You wouldn't want your competitor to show up first when someone searches for your brand, would you? Then pay up. E.g. https://i.imgur.com/SfomkdQ.png ; the second result is a competitor's ad, the third result is the organic result.

The difference being that you pay magnitudes less for your branded keywords than the competition, through the quality score. Allowing companies to advertise against their peers is actually creating more competition on the marketplace (which is a good thing). Edit: Disclosure - I work at Google but this is my own opinion on multi-sided markets

more competition is not synonymous with good, it is a thing that can have good effects or bad.

If for example changes to the marketplace makes it harder to determine who is a fraud and who is not or simply making it difficult to determine the quality of products, competition between the companies with the quality products and fraudsters may increase and that would be a bad thing.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#295

Post by dmitriid »

Twirrim wrote: post #200
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.

AMP isn't being forced on websites, they choose to enable it or not.

You either choose AMP and appear in the search carousel at the top of search results in the biggest search engine in the world. Or you choose not to implement AMP and you don't appear there.

Your "choice".

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#296

Post by ratww »

sukilot wrote: post #229
basch wrote: post #11

The FTC has spoke on this before. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/business-blog/2013/06/... I believe nearly all the search engines are still guilty of this one. I also think firms should be able to buy "blank space." For example facebook or amazon could pay NOT to have an ad above their result. Maybe they already do, I dont see an ad when I search facebook, however I do see an ad for amazon above the top amazo…

What's the benefit to whitespace over their own domain name?

By "whitespace" they mean "whitespace instead of an advertisement to a competitor's website".

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#297

Post by bryanrasmussen »

danShumway wrote: post #105

Prefer DuckDuckGo for searching, if possible. If you don't like DuckDuckGo's results and can't tolerate them, then prefer Startpage to Google, which will give you the same algorithm minus tracking/customization. Even post-acquisition, Startpage is still a more privacy-conscious engine than Google, and their ads are better labeled. And while I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, quick reminder that unless you're r…

Greasemonkey could also be used to remove the adds not just restyle them.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#298

Post by NeedMoreTea »

JohnFen wrote: post #143
extropy wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO Google is doing the best they can to serve you relevant results, just that everyone and their uncle is spamming internet to get up in the ranking game. Think of modern google as a question answering machine not a serch engine. And do "Show me Pioneer 10 subwoofer manufacturer specs" instead of just jamming keywords and hoping for the best.

> IMO Google is doing the best they can to serve you relevant results Maybe, but if so then they're singularly bad at it. Google consistently gives me worse results than DDG and Bing, anyway. I really think it's because Google is trying to figure out what I "really mean" by my search queries, and it's really terrible at guessing.

What you really mean in a google search is you want to buy something. You only think you don't want to buy. It doesn't matter that you've lost the leaflet for your Pioneer 10 Subwoofer and want to remember which wire goes where in your new house. Or just want to remember some detail of something you had years ago. Google is there to assure you that you really want to buy a shiny new set.

Not buying stuff you already own again serves neither the economy nor Google's advertising profit. Go on, buy another set. Infinite growth depends on it.

That really is their attitude to every product and service.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#299

Post by beefield »

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 wish there was a way to directly help Bing/DuckDuckGo/Yandex improve their search results.

I am amazed that no search engine gives me easy way to blacklist domains from my results. That would make the usefulness of any of them to increase by orders of magnitude. (and if they are careful, they might be even able to use the blacklisted data to adjust their general results , not only my personal results as well)

And I can't help to add qwant.com to the list of alternative search engines. No affiliation whatsoever, but I am pretty happy to use that as my daily search engine here in Europe.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#300

Post by Guest0918231 »

333c wrote: post #267
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.

I understand why it's happening and I mentioned it in my comment. However, I just find it incredibly inappropriate that...

1. When I search an exact domain Google will take money from a competitor and show their "advertisement" first. I say that in quotations, because it looks like they're showing a search result, not an advertisement. At this point it feels like companies are paying for their search placement. Pay enough money and you can be the first result for any search term.

2. Does Google give Expedia the option to not pay for an advertisement when there is no competition? I don't think so, and in the example I posted, Google has basically scared Expedia into outbidding no one.

The whole thing feels like extortion. Pay us money or we'll send people trying to navigate to your website to one of your competitors.

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