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

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#551

Post by 3xblah » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 10:36 PM UTC

IvyMike wrote: post #382

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…

"The problem with this kind of aggressive A/B testing is that it's a game of "how far can we push the user?""

Google also does this with Chrome. Users are subjected to "field trials". No explicit consent is requested. Most users are probably unaware. While it is possible to see which trials one is a part of, Google is not transparent about what exactly these trials entail.

https://www.ghacks.net/2013/04/05/field-trials-in-chrome-how...

https://textslashplain.com/2017/10/18/chrome-field-trials/

https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/master/test...

https://blog.chromium.org/2012/05/changes-to-field-trials-in...

http://raeknowler.com/wtf-chromium

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#552

Post by Swalden123 » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 10:37 PM UTC

lonelappde wrote: post #525

toohotatopic wrote: post #477

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does this create an opportunity for 'number one' sites to band together and create a competing search engine? Would it be possible to fund a search engine startup by selling shares to all of those sites who now have to pay to stay at the top? In the long run, it should be cheaper to fund a competitor.

I'm not sure regulators would look kindly on an pan-industry cartel explicitly designed to suppress smaller business from appearing in the marketplace. That's a pure antitrust play.

That sounds like Google to me.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#553

Post by sefrost » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 10:40 PM UTC

ryeguy_24 wrote: post #388

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 over…

Same, except to search Reddit I then end up back on Google using the “site:” keyword because the Reddit search is awful!

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#554

Post by akerro » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 10:41 PM UTC

Just use µblock origin, it hides ads from search results.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#555

Post by komali2 » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 10:43 PM UTC

gpanders wrote: post #489

aquova wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you (or anyone else) have any recommendations for an email service? I've cut pretty much everything Google out of my life, minus Gmail, mostly due to not wanting to go through all the trouble of transferring everything over to a service that I end up not liking. I've heard ProtonMail is good, but other than that, I'm not sure.

If you own a domain through Gandi (possibly others) you get email included for free. This is what I use. I don’t know why I don’t see this recommended more often?

I would do this through bluehost but it just straight up doesn't work. No matter the tutorials followed or time spent with support, I can't receive emails at my domain.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#556

Post by Retric » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 10:44 PM UTC

brennebeck wrote: post #534

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #520

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have good SEO and drift to the top of queries that actually are relevant for your site then you don't need to buy as many Google ads.

Wouldn’t having strong SEO incentive competition to buy ads? Of course it also incentives them to work on SEO, but the only way to ‘get above’ a top ranking site would be to buy an ad, no?

Increasing costs for your competition is a net win for you.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#557

Post by sefrost » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 10:45 PM UTC

40four wrote: post #487

Good thing I stoped using google search last year :) Actually I’ve stopping using google for EVERYTHING, except one old legacy throwaway gmail account. I must say, it feels really good!

What do you use instead of Google Maps?

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#558

Post by brazzledazzle » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 10:46 PM UTC

amatecha wrote: post #459

ogre_codes wrote: post #223

It's been clear for a little while that Google no longer cares about giving the best experience with a lot of their tools and is just focused on maximizing revenue. More and more, Google is the modern equivalent of Microsoft in the early 00s, still good enough that most people use it, but each successive "version" piles on more frustrations than benefits. It's so ironic that Google has become that which they most des…

I watched this clip of Steve Jobs[0] recently, where was speaking about promoting/empowering Product vs Marketing people. Some of his comments seem especially applicable: "[...] the companies forget what it means to make great products. The product sensibility and the product genius that brought them to that monopolistic position gets rotted out, by people running these companies who have no conception of a good prod…

This rings true in my experience. In fact I'd say that some companies that survive this trend tend to repeat it in cyclical manner. Good products, customer oriented then profit motivated short sighted decision making. Rinse and repeat.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#559

Post by iudqnolq » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 10:46 PM UTC

Retric wrote: post #556

brennebeck wrote: post #534

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn’t having strong SEO incentive competition to buy ads? Of course it also incentives them to work on SEO, but the only way to ‘get above’ a top ranking site would be to buy an ad, no?

Increasing costs for your competition is a net win for you.

And Google

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#560

Post by paganel » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 10:47 PM UTC

ChuckMcM wrote: post #453

Very much a way to mitigate the FTC's requirements on making advertising more distinct than organic results. It is an unpopular opinion but I believe Google is dying. They have been for a long time. The cancer is that nothing other than search ads generates the revenue and margins they need and the margins on search ads are now down 90% from where they were in 2010. Personally I'm long on Microsoft/Bing as a candidat…

To be honest I’m not sure what everyone else is searching for on Google the search engine anymore. I personally use it as a Wikipedia search engine in 90% of the cases while 9% is for stackoverflow queries, other than that I get all the info I’m interested in from dedicated FB groups and different sub-reddits.

And I’m also a 40-year old guy, from what I can see at people younger than me they spend almost all their web-related time on Facebook properties: Instagram, WhatsApp groups, Facebook private groups (FB the main app is also dying), with TikTok coming strong from behind. All of these are places where Google Search doesn’t have any reach. So one could say that the 2011 mantra “all arrows behind the same big arrow” (or whatever it was) was quite correct, Google+ was Google the company’s major chance of still remaining relevant in 10 or 15 years’ time. They still have YT, too bad they don’t know how to manage it.