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New Chrome extension: block sites from Google’s web search results

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Re: New Chrome extension: block sites from Google’s web search results

#211

Post by toni »

shadowpwner wrote: post #132
toni wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a Greasemonkey script[1] which does blacklisting. It works by sending "-site:example.com" with every search query. The script does a lot more cleanups like removing link tracking and ads, so if you don't feel like using all the functions, look in the code and check out "RemoveBadLinks()" function. Maybe you want to comment all other public functions in init(). [1] http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/79742

Wouldn't that reach a limit pretty soon? I've commented on this before, but there's a max character length for the search box.

MaxLenght of the input field is 2048, so you can put lots of domains in it. Of course, it's not a complete solution but it works to some extents, specially because it filters out stuff on server side and not with a css' display:none.

Re: New Chrome extension: block sites from Google’s web search results

#212

Post by Matt_Cutts »

presto8 wrote: post #174

Awesome extension! An option to hide the icon from the toolbar would be nice.

To hide the icon, you can right-click on the icon and select "Hide button." To bring it back, click Wrench->Tools->Extensions and click the "Show button" link.

I love Chrome. :)

Re: New Chrome extension: block sites from Google’s web search results

#213

Post by gmosx »

Matt_Cutts wrote: post #187
gmosx wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

posts to google groups show up in devcomments.com, osdir.com, mail-archive.com, etc ranked higher than the original post in google groups.

Hmm. That could be if Google Groups has changed the url structure, which could make crawling it harder. Or because USENET/mailing lists don't always have a centralized/canonical location on the web, which makes dupe content more of a potential issue. It's not the usual "Website X copied my website" scenario.

still the sites mentioned above are arguably of lower quality than google groups, there is no reason to rank higher...

Re: New Chrome extension: block sites from Google’s web search results

#214

Post by ydant »

topcat31 wrote: post #206
ydant wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't allow the extension to work in incognito mode (it's opt-in by default), then you can just open up an incognito / private browsing window instead (which Chrome makes pretty low-cost). This might have the benefit of removing any influence on your search results due to Google cookies that would otherwise be sent.

I don't think the plugin works via cookies though does it? Might be wrong....

By default Chrome does not allow plug-ins to run at all in incognito mode. You have to explicitly allow the setting highlighted in this screenshot (available from the URL "chrome://extensions")

http://img6.imagebanana.com/img/0om09caa/20110215_135721_Sel...

Re: New Chrome extension: block sites from Google’s web search results

#215

Post by Semiapies »

vog wrote: post #188
deltaqueue wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Experts exchange answers aren't nearly as bad as things like yahoo answers, etc. (PS - you know the answers are available at the very bottom of the page, right? I thought this was common knowledge, but just wanted to make sure the content was the reason behind the animosity and not that the information used to be inaccessible....) Perfect example of this extension in action: search for "how to remove ear pads from HD…

> Experts exchange answers aren't nearly as bad as things like yahoo answers While yahoo answers etc. might provide bad answers, experts exchange provides no answers at all. All you see is an open question with a nasty subscribe button that will only work if you haven't already used it more than 30 days ago. So experts exchange is more than useless: It's just plain advertisement without any added value. It's the kind…

To third this, scroll down. :)

Re: New Chrome extension: block sites from Google’s web search results

#216

Post by jackcat »

Positive move by Google, which should help the best content to rank in search.

However when Google start using this feedback data directly in their algorithm there are two dangers, which both can be overcome:

1. Abuse by SEOs trying to get their competitors blocked

2. Bad use of block data on a site wide basis in the search algorithm.  Eg just because certain pages on a site cause users to give block data doesn’t mean other pages on that site contain unique useful content.  High volume publishing or community sites will have a large degree of noise, but due to nature the cross section of society as members there will be also valid useful content in the seams.

One approach is to let individual users block sites forever (as the extension now) but use the block data on a page, not domain basis in the search algorithm. Individual pages can also increase in quality over time (the qoura business model) so changes in page content needs to be considered too.

The Internet is a better place with non editorial user generated content (hacker news is user generated) after all the human race mind based knowledge is a not all published online. Google just needs to figure out which pages really add value in that specific search no matter which domain they sit on.

Re: New Chrome extension: block sites from Google’s web search results

#217

Post by redstar »

dsl wrote: post #20

1. http://bit.ly/gTADhE 2. Click Install, close page 3. Open each of the links below in a new tab, click block on the first result 4. Win. http://www.google.com/search?q=Mahalo http://www.google.com/search?q=ehow http://www.google.com/search?q=experts-exchange http://www.google.com/search?q=livestrong.com http://www.google.com/search?q=answerbag http://www.google.com/search?q=bills.com http://www.google.com/search?q=…

Ask.com and Answers.com are bigger culprits than all of your list put together.

google this: site:answers.com "can you answer this question"

32,200,000 of their 103,000,000 answers pages DO NOT HAVE AN ANSWER! They are spamming google’s users to get them to build answer.com’s database of answers. (and surrounding the non-content with heavy ads!)

For the pages that do have an answer, answers.com has gone the way of answers.yahoo.com. (I guess you forgot answers.yahoo.com too)

And, BTW, ask.com is just regurgitating answers.com!!

google this: site:ask.com answers.com

or just surf around ask.com to see that they just regurgitate ALL of the content farm results, which makes ask.com a "content farm" farm

your list was a good start, but you missed the biggest (by far) offenders on the internet.

Re: New Chrome extension: block sites from Google’s web search results

#218

Post by presto8 »

Matt_Cutts wrote: post #212
presto8 wrote: post #174

Awesome extension! An option to hide the icon from the toolbar would be nice.

To hide the icon, you can right-click on the icon and select "Hide button." To bring it back, click Wrench->Tools->Extensions and click the "Show button" link. I love Chrome. :)

I don't see that option on Linux v.8.0.552.224. But maybe I need a Chrome upgrade. Thanks for the tip, I'll try and get it working!

Re: New Chrome extension: block sites from Google’s web search results

#219

Post by 9ec4c12949a4f3 »

EEvangelist wrote: post #198
tristanperry wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good list :) A couple more: http://www.google.com/search?q=wisegeek.com http://www.google.com/search?q=bizrate.com ---- My reasons for suggesting that these are blocked: "What are Some Animals Commonly Mistaken for Dinosaurs?" ( http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-some-animals-commonly-mista... ) "How Do I Care for a Rose Breasted Cockatoo?" ( http://www.wisegeek.com/how-do-i-care-for-a-rose-breasted-co... ) "Why Does…

Just a remark - Experts-Exchange user generated content. If something is copied from elsewhere and not attributed, it will be attributed or deleted and the poster told off.

EE tends to have poor quality that goes nowhere, and mods come by and make people accept answers anyway because it makes their business model look good.

Re: New Chrome extension: block sites from Google’s web search results

#220

Post by Matt_Cutts »

presto8 wrote: post #218
Matt_Cutts wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To hide the icon, you can right-click on the icon and select "Hide button." To bring it back, click Wrench->Tools->Extensions and click the "Show button" link. I love Chrome. :)

I don't see that option on Linux v.8.0.552.224. But maybe I need a Chrome upgrade. Thanks for the tip, I'll try and get it working!

I'm using the dev version of Chrome on Linux, currently "10.0.648.45 dev". The developer channel has always been surprisingly stable for me.
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