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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

#381

Post by basch »

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?

Reduction of confusion, and information density.

Why does Amazon need to appear twice in a row - https://i.imgur.com/8Dhr1mj.png

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#382

Post by IvyMike »

Others have mentioned that this is almost certainly the result of a long course of A/B testing.

The problem with this kind of aggressive A/B testing is that it's a game of "how far can we push the user?" So instead of having enthusiastic fans, they have people who begrudgingly use them. Sure, Google picks up an extra nickel here or there, and I'm sure some PMs got a raise. But I don't know any strong Google boosters any more, and there are hordes of people ready to switch over once something tolerable comes along.

(And from the comments, it seems like many of you have already found tolerable replacement search engines. I think I'm going to join you.)

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#383

Post by keithnz »

phillc73 wrote: post #363
LeftHandPath wrote: post #260

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

My biggest beef with DDG is that they do not do worldwide results very well. Their results are overwhelmingly US centric. As an example.... I search on DDG, "buy cricket equipment near me". I am not behind a VPN and whatsmyip correctly identifies my hostname with the correct European country suffix. However, the top results on DDG for this query is "Dick's Sporting Goods". Click on that and I get a nasty "GDPR DSG So…

yes, likewise, I'm in New Zealand, and trying to find local stuff on DDG is a very poor experience. I'll swap to google for this.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#384

Post by freehunter »

KingFelix wrote: post #288
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 have noticed that when trying to find the most recent solution Google shows me an answer that is 10 years old. ex. Adobe updates come faster than I can update, so I run into issues, so finding the most recent answer is what I am looking for and not a similar issue from Adobe pre CC.

I find that a lot too. Trying to search for anything Rails related always shows Rails 3/4 results before Rails 5/6. If Google really knew that much about me, they should notice I always end my searching by clicking on a Rails 5/6 result (because those are the versions I use) and every time I land on a Rails 3 or 4 result I almost always click back and try again. Same with Python when I get 2.x results, with all their data they should know I've used 3.x for years.

If companies want to track me and build profiles on me, I accept that I can't stop that without refusing to use their products and every site that's integrated with it (Google Analytics, Adwords, etc). But if they're going to do it, at least use that information to help me. What's the point otherwise?

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#385

Post by dragonwriter »

blihp wrote: post #341
0xff00ffee wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does DDG use for an algorithm? Originally Google was just using pagerank but that was too easy to game by SEO. This means DDG needed to address this, and apparently they have (e.g, search for 'favicon' like the post). How long can we rely on DDG staying neutral in their algorithm?

AFAIK they don't have their own algo, they are just a front end for other search engines (Bing etc.) depending on where/what you're looking for.

They have to have some (possibly trivial) algorithm for aggregating the sources they combine.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#386

Post by pbhjpbhj »

rahuldottech wrote: post #339
sli wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

I know for a fact that Firefox can also implement bangs like Duckduckgo out of the box, although you have to manually set it up.

They used to have some default keywords, "g", "w", etc. (you enter "g key words" to search Google for the keywords. If they're not default anymore they're very easy to do.

I like the way Chrome shows it has recognised the keyword after you press space though, neat feedback, good design IMO.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#388

Post by ryeguy_24 »

More and more I'm bypassing Google and going to places like Reddit, Quora, News Hacker, Stack Overflow to search for what I need. I honestly think there has been a decline in value in the top search results. Hard to pinpoint but definitely an increasing gut feeling. On average, the top search results I receive are heavily advertised with lots of clickbait or content that is on multiple pages of a slideshow. Just overall poor quality.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#389

Post by [deleted] »

underwater wrote: post #364
bduerst wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Advocating strongly for your employer and their business practices without disclosing the conflict of interest is essentially astroturfing.

[deleted]

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#390

Post by therealmarv »

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…

If you want a favicon fix. Use this CSS userstyle https://userstyles.org/styles/179230/google-search-old-style with Chrome/Firefox extension "Stylus".
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