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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

#611

Post by JohnFen »

grogenaut wrote: post #278
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 can pretty much only use Google in verbatim mode now

Does verbatim mode actually work for you? It doesn't seem to for me.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#612

Post by [deleted] »

digitalsushi wrote: post #235
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…

I am not comfortable with someone else's domain becoming the de facto front door to my website. There's nothing I can do it about it, but I tend to hate it. If my name is Mike and someone powerful calls me Chucklehead, I will have to start answering to that name in order to continue doing business. But what REALLY concerns me is if a year later, that powerful someone calls someone ELSE Chucklehead.

[deleted]

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#613

Post by cmroanirgo »

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…

There are alternative search engines of course.

I use StartPage which has the benefit of local results (but can be fully anonymous) but still uses Google search results. DDG is a great alternative, but isn't for me. And then there's Bing

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#614

Post by brutus1213 »

How did this get green-lit? i.e. what story did they have to tell themselves and externally? This seems like an extremely hostile move to users as well as their customers (ad sellers). I simply can't distinguish ads from search results any more. I can't be the only one.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#615

Post by ChuckMcM »

JoeSmithson wrote: post #455
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…

> "the margins on search ads are now down 90% from where they were in 2010." Do you have a source for this?

The quarterly financial statements, and a knowledge of how Google accounting works[1]. Revenue from ads is correlated to CPC (cost per click), ad inventory is correlated to ads on Google sites vs ads on "other" sites, and margin pressure is correlated with operational expenses and traffic acquisition costs. The fuzziest number to model is the ad inventory and relies on estimates of search traffic, ads serviced, and reported revenue and CPC.

[1] I worked there and paid attention at their 'life of a dollar' class they used to give Nooglers. :-)

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#616

Post by rdiddly »

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.

Amazing. File under not being evil.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#617

Post by wwweston »

kllrnohj wrote: post #222
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…

> 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…

> Typing in un-obfuscated URLs has almost never been a key feature or use-case of the web

Making people type in URLs is not a key feature of the web. Letting people interact with their various signifiers has always been.

Too many people involved in UX and product and commentary have forgotten that "don't make me think" doesn't mean "don't let me think."

The URL is a set of half a dozen affordances.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#618

Post by ubercow13 »

jonplackett wrote: post #600

I really hate AMP. To the point where I started making an iOS browser that’s sole purpose was to bounce me from AMP links to the original link and delete the history step in between. I wish Apple would offer this in Safari - a simple ‘ignore AMP pages’ check box. AMP is google worst attempt yet at taking over the web. It’s so user hostile. It breaks lots of sites with its fake scroll and fake back button at the top o…

There is a feature to do this in Safari already, but it's not automatic. If you force press or long press on a link so the preview window pops up, then tap on the preview to load the link, it will skip the AMP page.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#619

Post by adelpozo »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #590
pyrale wrote: post #561

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, Wikipedia has been relegated lower and lower in search results. So much so that I now specifically use their search tool rather than go through google just in case some interesting thing pops up.

Having to search for “xxxxxxx wiki” more and more now. No I don’t want Healthline and Medicinenet links above the Wikipedia entry, thank you Google. I wish by each search result there was a button that said “banish this domain to oblivion, I never want to see it again.” You could improve search really fast that way if you still cared about things like that.

There used to be such feature in the results page. I just went looking for it and I got 'Cached' and 'Similar' when I click in the little drop-down arrow. Nice feature that appears to be removed. How does removing that feature benefited the users?

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#620

Post by [deleted] »

lonelappde wrote: post #524
hendi_ wrote: post #438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I pay five figures a month for my "$domain" ad. It's not cheap by any means, but we're forced to buy, otherwise our competitors steal our traffic.

"Steal"? If customers searching for your brand are happy to buy from your competitor with a different name, maybe your brand isn't so strong? And if you are profiting from advertising your brand to people who don't choose your product over alternatives, isn't your marketing just "stealing" purchases from competitors?

[deleted]
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