They backtracked for now, but they'll try something else in the next year or so. Their goal is obvious.
The goal of showing favicons?
Lol, well that one was just ugly. But making ads look like organic results.
Google backtracks on search results design
61–70 of 356 posts
Re: Google backtracks on search results design
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
More like- how often do you edit a URL in the bar on mobile? It's a pain in the ass.
Every single time someone im's me some url with a bunch of tracking garbage after the ?
I don't use Chrome but you have tracking token stripper plugin:
Re: Google backtracks on search results design
#63Don't care. Haven't used Google since they put social engineering and ad revenue ahead of search quality and usability When I peek in from time to time, it looks intolerable compared to DDG's clean results.
IMHO the ads on Duck Duck Go are much worse / harder to ignore. At least Google puts the [Ad] icons on the left so they line up. DDG puts them at the end of the title so they are all over the place. Try to use it without an adblocker.
So you actually want the ads to look more like the organic results?
Re: Google backtracks on search results design
#64Even discounting for the fact the results looked closer to ads, they were also very distracting from an information heirarchy point of view. My eyes first move thorough the colourful favicons first, then the url of the page and then the real content. This flies in the face of good design.
> My eyes first move thorough the colourful favicons first, then the url of the page and then the real content.
I'm not sure this is a big deal one you get used to it. Other search engines also have favicons. My browser tab has favicons. Most internet content (like twitter) has some kind of colourful icon to the left of the text.
Re: Google backtracks on search results design
#65I use google a lot, but I can’t escape the thought that every time I really need to find something (a book which title I barely remember, a product based on the job it does) I just can’t do it using google and that most of my queries are mostly key value lookups. And yes, ads are annoying. Double ads in YouTube are annoying. f you google.
At least in Youtube I can (and do) pay to make ads go away, which I'm happy to do, as I get a great service in return. I just wish that I could do the same for Google search.
Re: Google backtracks on search results design
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
I opened Chrome on a friends phone (first time on Chrome mobile in years) and was shocked to see the url bar is no longer editable. It just gave me a weird context menu with a copy icon. I guess they really want to funnel everyone through search...
It's really scary. And it's a shame Firefox is so slow on mobile...
This surprises me. It rocks for me on mobile (Android), esp. with Privacy Badger and uBlock Origin installed its really fast
Re: Google backtracks on search results design
#67I’ve been on the test for this design since October 4, 2019, so I’ve actually gotten used to it! But it’s probably a good thing for them to backtrack. I wonder what went wrong in their clearly lengthy experiment about how this would perform.
How did you remember the precise date? Impressed.
Re: Google backtracks on search results design
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
This and the other stuff described in these discussions relies on Javascript, CSS or certain HTTP headers. If the results are requested with a simpler HTTP client that does not automatically execute Javascript or CSS, where we can control te HTTP headers, then these manipulations can easily be sidestepped. This is not "blocking". It is using a client that does not process JS or CSS, where we can easily control the he…
Blocking 3rd-party scripts, 1st-party scripts and even inline scripts doesnt do what you say it does. It not as easy as you say it is, theyre using server side scripts to mangle the URLs.
A filtering proxy can still fix the results by substituting the real URLs, since they are still unmolested in the href= attribute of the anchor tags.
Re: Google backtracks on search results design
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’m so sorry to hear you have such a dark outlook. I totally agree, those companies are not about the consumer anymore, but that’s fine. That’s their problem. I see computers and the internet as an extension of ourselves, and so they still allow us to communicate with whoever and whatever we want. I’m so glad this community exists and we can express that. The worst part should already be over, you just joined hn. I’m…
This brand of techno-optimism is so tired. Who today still believes the old facebook line about connecting more people? It didn't work and it enabled automated surveillance on unprecedented scale.
There are still many wonderful niches on the web, and by going there - while avoiding the bad stuff - we strengthen them so they don't disappear as well. As techies we have an opportunity here to bring them more to the front, by the technology choices we make and the projects we contribute to, the awareness we raise.
Re: Google backtracks on search results design
#70It's too late, lasting damage has been done. This redesign made me seriously look at DDG and I'm impressed with what I found.
I've set DDG as my default search, but it's frustrating how often I still have to make my way back to G.