Every Google result now looks like an ad • Hacker News Board

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#321

Post by psic4t » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 8:03 PM UTC

imiric wrote: post #233

I've been using a local Searx[1] instance for web search for a few months now, and besides it needing an update when APIs inevitably break, it's been relatively pain-free. What I like the most about it is that I get a unified search results page for all engines, which avoids some of the profile bubble, and that the UI is always consistent, avoiding these scummy redesigns A/B tested to infinity and implemented because…

Me too, but with mixed results.

In the last weeks, results from DDG or Bing appear later or even never. That make Searx not very reliable at the moment.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#322

Post by neodymiumphish » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 8:05 PM UTC

sabertoothed wrote: post #277

cabaalis wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like DDG, but have been using Ecosia for the past 6 months or so. I like that I've contributed to planting 25 trees (by the averages) just in my normal course of searching.

Ecosia serves Bing results (iirc). The search result quality is awful.

DDG also uses Bing. I've never used Ecosia before, but it's interesting to me that the experience would be so dramatically different when they're both using the same source. Must be some interesting factors involved in DDG's search to assist in pulling more relevant results out of Bing.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#323

Post by sli » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 8:05 PM UTC

Liquix wrote: post #280

LeftHandPath wrote: post #260

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

Heck yeah! DDG results have gotten noticeably better in the past ~2 years. Side note - most browsers offer 'search shortcut' customization options, so you can start an address-bar search with !g or !b or whatever to seamlessly swap to your fallback(s).

> Side note - most browsers offer 'search shortcut' customization options, so you can start an address-bar search with !g or !b or whatever to seamlessly swap to your fallback(s).

While you indeed can configure browsers to do this, I think you may be erroneously attributing a DDG feature to -- or duplicating a DDG feature in -- your browser, because those are built in DDG bang commands.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#324

Post by dougb5 » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 8:06 PM UTC

pushcx wrote: post #29

https://www.google.com/about/honestresults/ It's a little confusing to read now, so for context: at the time Google published this, it only put ads in the sidebar to the right of search results. This post was written to criticize the practice of putting ads atop search results, which competitors sometimes formatted almost indistinguishably from organic search results.

The post was written to criticize "paid placement" search engines like Goto.com/Overture (see https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2002/03/04/how-overture-go... for details). I believe Google has put ads above search results for as long as AdWords has existed (since 2000).

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#325

Post by ckosidows » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 8:06 PM UTC

cco wrote: post #66

pb7 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Evil is also subjective.

Only on the end closest to "neutral", past some arbitrary point your subjective opinion on evil stops mattering to people with morals.

If it's an arbitrary point how could it be anything but subjective? You're saying _some_ actions are universally evil. Personally I disagree that such actions exist.

The world is a complex place and humans are complex beings. Nobody considers themselves the bad guy in their own story, that is, unless they feel they've been labeled the bad guy and they act to fulfill that label.

Painting people and actions as inherently evil, to me, is to overly simplify the person or misunderstand their motive and it prevents us from learning from their misdoings.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#326

Post by nik_0_0 » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 8:07 PM UTC

LoSboccacc wrote: post #279

kllrnohj wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is part of Google's attempt to de-prioritise the URL. URLs have always been an implementation detail and not a user feature. From the very beginning it was intended that users would follow links, not type in URLs. HTML was built on hiding URLs behind text. Then AOL keywords happened. Then search explosion happened. And short URLs. And QR codes for real-world linking. And bookmarks because yet again typing in U…

> From the very beginning it was intended that users would follow links, not type in URLs. so, about that 4.6 Locators are human transcribable. Users can copy Internet locators from one medium to another (such as voice to paper, or paper to keyboard) without loss or corruption of information. This process is not required to be comfortable. you can't copy a page title into a client and expect it to find the right reso…

I agree with most this... but have somewhat of a counter point to "you can't copy a page title".

You (often) can copy a page title into a client (Google) and expect it to find the right resource. This is usually done with articles, etc.

Even your comment provides a perfect example - you didn't link to RFC 1736, but the text "Locators are human transcribable" is unique enough that the first Google result is correct.

So you didn't have to provide a URL to lead someone to this page, just 'enough' unique text for it to be findable.

Which is kind of amazing - and maybe not what the original RFC intended.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#327

Post by surferbayarea » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 8:07 PM UTC

Bye bye google. Hello duckduckgo

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#328

Post by RileyJames » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 8:09 PM UTC

It seems like the only difference between the advertising and non-advertising at this point is the “Ad” fav icon. Plus a small (i) info button on the right of an ad.

If websites change their fav icons to “Ad”, effectively all results look like ads.

Doesn’t achieve a lot, but it does highlight an obvious flaw in their design. It could force a change, but most likely they would just filter the fav icon.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#329

Post by altcognito » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 8:09 PM UTC

ApolloFortyNine wrote: post #204

I've been stuck with this for two weeks now, and it's bad enough that for the first time ever I've considered using something other than Google. It's just so much harder for my eyes to read, I feel I can't glaze through the results like I used to (and I believe the old search would often give date for things like stack exchange and Reddit, which helps with a wide variety of issues). I'm pretty sure for the layout its…

It is strangely stressful to even read through the results, let alone find the right one anymore. Switching to DDG is pleasant, it even seems to respect a dark mode setting.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#330

Post by loceng » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 8:11 PM UTC

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.

A shakedown, not sure how it's been legal for so long.