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uBlacklist: Blocks specific sites from appearing in Google search results

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Re: uBlacklist: Blocks specific sites from appearing in Google search results

#192
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Non-creative name: "SearchDenylist" Reasons: * I think of the "u" prefix in this narrow technology niche (browser-based filtering) as almost a trademark of the great project now called "uBlock Origin". * "Blacklist" isn't a term to be making new uses of in the US. (Given ongoing history of racial injustices, and how the terms "blacklist" and "whitelist" have been used in our field to designate "bad" and "good", respe…

So I'm not trying to start a flamewar or anything, genuinely curious to learn more about your view here. Is your viewpoint that "blacklist" is a racial term in itself, i.e. is used in a racial sense? I've never seen that, and my understanding is that's not the case historically, but call me out if I'm wrong and that's your point. Based on your comments on disregarding etymology, my understanding is that you're not ma…

Yes, I think we shouldn't use "black" to mean "bad".

Because we've had so tragic much of that, in various other ways, and it's time to just say stop that, we mean it, unambiguously.

I might be able to explain the thinking better, were it not 2am, but here goes... Imagine a little kid, of any ethnic/racial heritage, who's picked up on some of the prejudices around "black people" and class. Now try to try to teach them a computing class with the terms "blacklist" and "whitelist", and what they mean. Now you can guess where their thoughts are going, so you try to address that, by saying that you could also say the much more clear "denylist" or "excludelist", and also not have to explain that you don't mean to be offensive or hurtful, but you just really like calling it "blacklist" so much, that overrides all other considerations.

Re: uBlacklist: Blocks specific sites from appearing in Google search results

#193
post #161
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My w3schools workaround is appending `mdn` to any search for something related to web standards

I have been part of the beta test for kagi search engine (kagi.com) and my favorite feature is you can prefer/mute websites. So for example I prefer MDN so the site is ranked higher if it shows in the search results. Note I’m unaffiliated with them but the product/team is great so rooting for them to succeed.

I'm using Kagi at the moment and not only does it have nice features like this but it is also a fantastic search engine.

Maybe the best way to explain how fantastic it is is that I think it has a bang operator like DDG but I have never tested it because when I look at the results they are obviously better than DDG or Google.

Re: uBlacklist: Blocks specific sites from appearing in Google search results

#194
post #3

For a quick and dirty DIY solution, add something like this to your uBlock filter list: google.*##.g:has(a[href*="thetopsites.com"]) duckduckgo.*##.results > div:has(a[href*="thetopsites.com"]) The linked project goes way beyond this though, very neat!

i tried pinterest and did not work for me google. ##.g:has(a[href ="pinterest.com"]) google. ##.g:has(a[href ="*.pinterest.com"]) dunno. i primarily use duck which apparently does not show that many pinterest results and even that one didn't work. i would have to investigate

If you're typing strings which include the * character, you must either escape it with a \ (\*) or write it in a code block.

I STRONGLY recommend the latter.

I think what you're trying to write is:

  google.*##.g:has(a[href=*"pinterest.com"])
(I'm inferring that based on the italic/roman text in your pattern line. I'm probably inferring wrong.)

HN's markup interpreter will style any line indented by two or more spaces as code, and not interpret special symbols. The lines will wrap, however (wrapping is a relatively new feature).

Re: uBlacklist: Blocks specific sites from appearing in Google search results

#195
post #59
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

google used to have the personal blocklist extension not sure what happened to it...

Yep! It was called “personal blocklist (by google)”. I don’t think anyone was maintaining it. So when the SERP changed its layout, the extension broke and Google removed it :(

What do you mean it broke? I am using it as we speak and it still blocks great

Re: uBlacklist: Blocks specific sites from appearing in Google search results

#196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were much worse before. See the old version of w3fools website: https://web.archive.org/web/20110412103745/http://w3fools.co... They're better today, but it's still... let's say an equivalent of empty calories instead of a healthy MDN meal.

I don't see how MDN is a healthy meal when they document only shit which works exclusively in Chrome and Firefox, while claiming everything else is "deprecated" and ignoring all other browsers. More like synthetic junk food, if you ask me.

Some examples would be useful, otherwise it's hard to tell what situations you're talking about.

But looking at a random entry, they list Samsung Internet, Safari, Opera, IE, and others. That doesn't look like ignoring other browsers.

Re: uBlacklist: Blocks specific sites from appearing in Google search results

#197

Some basic filters for stuff that pops up all the time and is never what I'm looking for: /. pinterest. \.. / /. torrent. \.. / /. spankbang. \.. / /. mp3. \.. / /. proxy. \.. / /. block. \.. / /. addiction. \.. / /. recovery. \.. / /. detox. \.. / /. clinic. \.. / /. rehab. \.. / /. rarbg. \.. / /. hydra. \.. / /. 123. \.. / /. stock. \.. / /. linkedin. \.. / /. subtitle. \.. / /. shopify. \.. / /. dreamstime. \.. /…

Ah yes the notoriously spammy .dev TLD. I guarantee you that .com, .net, and .org have far more spam and low quality sites than this stupid list.

The original generic TLDs have many highly-ranked legitimate sites.

The problem with extended generic TLDs is that the spam sites have managed to become highly ranked. Yes, there's good stuff there, undoubtedly. But search engines can't find it. At which point it may as well not exist.

I'm not a fan of outright blocking at this level without good cause, but it could well be worthwhile to block an entire TLD in cases.

Re: uBlacklist: Blocks specific sites from appearing in Google search results

#198
post #80

As others have said, it can also be done with a uBlock filter. For example, here are my filters that block and remove terrible copycats/translations of StackOverflow https://gist.github.com/quenhus/6bd2c47e5780f726f0c96c0a2ee7... . I hate these copies that somehow manage to be better referenced than StackOverflow.

Would you submit this to an the awesome list I’ve made for uBlacklist? I love uBlacklist, but I felt the community aspect of it was missing, and vital to its success. I felt bootstrapping lists and GitHub repos was the most instantaneous way to enable a community. I comment each time it hits HN, but beyond that haven’t seen much uptake / contribution towards building blacklists. https://github.com/rjaus/awesome-ublac…

And awesome list is a great idea! I have a huge blocklist of those fake machine-translated e-commerce sites that just redirect to AliExpress. I'll try to remember to submit it later today

Re: uBlacklist: Blocks specific sites from appearing in Google search results

#199
post #5

I like the idea, but does it come with a default list? I'd be interested in something like this but that includes most known blogspam sites, with a global list like say pihole provides.

Given the nature of domain-level spam, tuning your own list is likely to be both fairly quick and effective.

High-ranking search results don't come easily, and there will be a relatively small set of domains occupying any such slots. Even with turnover, that's going to be viable. Remember, the competition here isn't to flood your inbox from any random domain on the Net, but to secure one of the first 10 SERP results. Odds are good that blocking 10--20 domains will be more than enough.

Your list will also likely vary from other people's.

Re: uBlacklist: Blocks specific sites from appearing in Google search results

#200
post #151

The great cat and mouse game 1. uBlock - Blocks annoying ads 2. Sponsorblock - Blocks annoying nordvpn, curiositystream, et al 3. uBlacklist - Blocks annoying pinterest, quora, et al Keep the good fight going guys. Kudos!

Every time I accidentally click a Quora search result it makes me so unhappy. I must have missed the memo about Pinterest though. I always liked that site but haven't been on there in a while. I'm reading up on what's wrong and it sounds like a few years ago it started drowning in ads. Then this year they pushed an update that caused half their users to stop using the platform. Is that accurate?

If you want to feel Pinterest pain, try an image search for something you are tying to make or create, particularly something craft or art related.

Every hit will take you somewhere bad in Pinterest land, and somehow not provide the image you want.

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