Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Every Google result now looks like an ad

twitter.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

631–640 of 1001 posts

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#631

Post by jackcosgrove »

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.

HERE is an industry consortium created to offer an alternative map service.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#632

Post by kjs3 »

crispyporkbites wrote: post #512
Guest0918231 wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 e…

I aggree with your point #1, if you search for an specific term / domain it should always appear first if there's a direct match. but for #2 there's a pro-competition argument here. If you search for Expedia and all you ever get is Expedia and expedia pages underneath that, in theory that's good. But what if you don't know about other online travel sites? You'll never see them, so it kind of makes sense that you are…

so it kind of makes sense that you are shown other sites in there

Why? If I search for a specific thing (Expedia), why would Google assume I want to see other options that I did not ask for other than "it's more profitable for Google"? More specifically, in the event I want other options, why is the correct answer "you want to see the other options that are paying Google the most"? That's not "pro-competition", that's "pro-Google".

Google should recognise that a search for Expedia is either: a) For Expedia b) For a travel holiday

Why, short of mind reading (I assume they're working on it, but it's not in the 10Q), should Google ever assume B?

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#633

Post by ronilan »

pushcx wrote: post #603
ronilan wrote: post #540

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This suggests otherwise: “For example, entering the query "buy domain" into the search box on Google’s home page produces search results and an AdWords text advertisement that appears to the RIGHT of Google’s search results” [1] It is from October, 2000. It is so ancient, it is even before Schmidt happened. I don’t believe anything preceded that, but to be sure we’ll have to wait for Larry to chime in and clarify. [1…

That press release also says: > Google’s quick-loading AdWords text ads appear to the right of the Google search results and are highlighted as sponsored links, clearly separate from the search results. Google’s premium sponsorship ads will continue to appear at the top of the search results page.

Indeed. Missed that.

Verdict is this: they started at the top, then things went sideways ;)

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#634

Post by jackcosgrove »

paganel wrote: post #560
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 we…

The web has been dying since Facebook came along. The internet is growing like gangbusters though.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#635

Post by umvi »

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…

Your fate is sealed the moment you go public. No public company can withstand the shareholder pressure forever

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#636

Post by iudqnolq »

Retric wrote: post #562
iudqnolq wrote: post #559

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And Google

Depends on the industry, but if you can profit at lower prices you can force your competition to spend less on advertising. That’s bad for Google.

That makes sense. I meant increasing the ad buy spend of a firm's competitors helps Google

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#637

Post by vpEfljFL »

What did you expect from the advertisement company?

I'm pretty sure ad providers liked the changes because they are getting more traffic to their websites. So, the actual clients are happy why so much dislike towards a new change.

The most disappointing thing for me in this thread is recommendations to install ad blockers. This thing is harming the web the most because instead of focusing on the issue (bad UI) we just supporting such behaviour by using websites with bad UI.

p.s. I'm in risk of being downvoted because of just expressing unpopular opinion about ad blockers.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#638

Post by xp84 »

lonelappde wrote: post #530
esotericsean wrote: post #516

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always scroll past the ad to click on the "real" URL. I don't want to add to the statistic showing support that behaviour.

You do you, but (1) you aren't moving anyone's needle on revenue or expenses, and (2) you're using the search engine for its main business proposition and then circumventing the compensation model, so you are not being ethical either. You could use another engine or spend some money to compensate the search provider.

> and then circumventing the compensation model > spend some money to compensate the search provider

what?

Wait so you're saying everyone owes it to Google to click the ads? How much? Always? Sometimes?

Does this mean that if you go to the movies you are literally obligated to buy popcorn and soda? I agree with you that if no one clicked ads then Google wouldn't "be able to operate it" for free. But I think that like any business they operate in the aggregate. Some people make you money, some don't. In Google's case, everyone I have ever watched click ads 100% of the time so I don't think they're hurting.

And also, I think if everyone stopped clicking ads and Google was forced to just charge users say $12 a month for search as an informational service with zero ads, I would gladly pay it. And the Internet and the world would be a LOT better.

Re: Every Google result now looks like an ad

#639

Post by lern_too_spel »

bashinator wrote: post #629
lern_too_spel wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then why are you searching on Google? That's where you would see an AMP page served from a Google AMP cache. If you searched on Bing, you would get AMP pages served from a Bing AMP cache instead.

In the past year, I've seen amp pages increasingly often linked from all sorts of places (reddit, FB, here, etc) besides Google's search results.

AMP pages hosted by the publisher, Google's AMP cache, Bing's AMP cache, or some other company's AMP cache? GGP was complaining about sending any information to Google. Only one of those options does so.
Post reply on HN