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Layoffs hit Quora

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Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#271

Post by bekman »

mam2 wrote: post #267
codingslave wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure but atleast Quora did the hard work of building the website, getting the users, etc. They own that. I think we need to increase awareness and outcry about google stealing content from websites. They should be required to pay part of the revenue from page views to the content owners.

And google did the effort to build the NLP... There is no moral high ground in this story.

Making a platform for people to create content and building an algorithm to scrap(steal) that content is a very different thing.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#272

Post by tjpnz »

codingslave wrote: post #23

Any company that relies on SEO content is basically going to disapear. Google search and their new NLP technology is just extracting the question and answers from content like that on Quora, significantly reducing their page hit volumes. Not only that, other lower ranked content can be verified to be "true" using neural network based NLP, meaning that the value of content has gone down. Google stole the business of q…

>Google stole the business of quora and trip advisor. They did the hard work of getting the content.

Most of the companies I've worked for are largely oblivious to this and continue to invest heavily in making their pages appear attractive to Google - even when the end result is negligible at best. It seems to be a really good way of draining developer resources at the expense of innovation. But perhaps that was the intention all along.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#273

Post by mam2 »

bekman wrote: post #271
mam2 wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And google did the effort to build the NLP... There is no moral high ground in this story.

Making a platform for people to create content and building an algorithm to scrap(steal) that content is a very different thing.

This a completely useless academic discussion.. some people build stuf, some stuff bring money and other dont.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#274

Post by hinkley »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #25
davidw wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like a windmill people keep tilting at. A while back there was "Experts Exchange" AKA "Expert Sex Change dot com".

My understanding is that Stack Overflow started as a direct competitor to Experts Exchange and their SEO shenanigans, although based on recent goings on, Stack Exchange would’ve been served better as a non profit entity similar to Wikipedia or OpenStreetMap. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1210444

I wonder sometimes what Nietzsche would have made of VC culture. This is one of those times.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#275

Post by wiseleo »

sokoloff wrote: post #57
manigandham wrote: post #50

Quora is a site that is somehow successful despite its product development decisions. They seem to constantly make the site and community worse with every update. There's still a decent amount of amazing valuable answers from real verified experts but the experience of using it is horrendous and I've completely stopped trying to write anything anymore.

I can't decide whether I hope that whoever decided that iOS Safari users on Quora would get a blocking "F you; use our mobile app" experience after scrolling a short distance is included in the layoffs or will be allowed to stay on and continue the destruction of the company.

I get that, while logged in, as a Top Writer, with admin rights to some things, on a 10-year old account.

Yeah, that’s wrong. There’s no check for isLoggenIn().

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#276

Post by paulie_a »

drywater wrote: post #194
geofft wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the paradox there? Google has its own review system for restaurants / hotels / etc., so they can definitely survive TripAdvisor and Yelp disappearing. They'll just collect the data themselves. For Quora and StackOverflow, they can (and do) index personal blogs etc., too. Google is a search engine; they don't need a single fixed third party to be the first search result to all questions in a category.

The problem with Google is that everything is attached to your name. I never write any review on Google knowing that anybody can judge me based on that review alone. Reviews are between me and the target of the review. My coworkers don't need to know what I've bought, where I've been and all my opinions about those things.

Let's be honest. Your coworkers are not interested in your posts.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#277

Post by paulie_a »

jjeaff wrote: post #260
Mirioron wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How come they're not being sued over this?

They were sued by Rap Genius for a similar practice and I believe Rap Genius won.

I can't find anything about a lawsuit but they were using shady seo methods and Google deindexed them. Rapgunius stopped what they were doing and apologized for the dishonest behavior.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#278

Post by ethbro »

echelon wrote: post #134
ethbro wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By tracks, by any chance? Doesn't narrow it down much in Atlanta (specifically with mills), but if you're talking where I think you're talking, I'm ~2 mi from you. ;)

Nailed it!

:) There aren't as many places with ceilings that high. Cool space!

Fingers crossed Atlanta makes good moves on the housing / transportation front in the next 20-30 years.

This part (and the city as a whole) feels like it could go either way.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#279

Post by cpudestw2020 »

city41 wrote: post #20

In the past few days, Quora, EBay, 23 and Me and TripAdvisor all announced layoffs. Coincidence or early sign of something bigger?

Ehhh...

EBay has probably been feeling at least some pinch for a while from Amazon creeping in on their B2C channels. When I used to work at a small retail shop, we boosted sales by selling on Ebay. Nowadays, I imagine it would be Amazon instead.

23 and Me is IMO a result of people NOT wanting their genetic data leaked/sold/etc. and the market reflecting that.

Quora is like StackOverflow but with different drama and worse layout.

Tripadvisor IMO is feeling the squeeze of AirB&B and it's ilk.

Still -could- be a sign, but I don't think it's entirely unexpected.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#280

Post by lenkite »

paulie_a wrote: post #276
drywater wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with Google is that everything is attached to your name. I never write any review on Google knowing that anybody can judge me based on that review alone. Reviews are between me and the target of the review. My coworkers don't need to know what I've bought, where I've been and all my opinions about those things.

Let's be honest. Your coworkers are not interested in your posts.

Of course they are. Especially if you happen to voice an unpopular political opinion that differs from the herd.
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