Why not use another search engine, such as Kagi, which has built-in support for this? At least for the programming niche, Kagi has worked really great for me for a month now.
Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?
41–50 of 284 posts
Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?
#42Isn't this Google's job? Are developers a small but lucrative target and so the suits at Google don't see the benefit of improving that experience by cleaning up the spam? Can we just nudge them to do so under the threat of an influential minority leaving due to their use case being affected?
It is Google's job, but they either aren't doing it or are failing at it. We could do something about it at least until a better alternative or a solution appears.
> Can we just nudge them to do so under the threat of an influential minority leaving due to their use case being affected?
Many influential people have tried and nothing seems to have transpired from it.
Google.com is the most popular website. I don't think the leaving of any minority group we manage to create would even matter to Google, let alone force them to fix the issue. Not that I discourage using alternatives.
Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?
#43Quoted post unavailable.
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Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?
#44Quoted post unavailable.
Related: git, GitHub and GitLab switched the default branch name from master to main.
- https://github.blog/changelog/2020-10-01-the-default-branch-...
- https://about.gitlab.com/blog/2021/03/10/new-git-default-bra...
Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?
#45This is just my own personal preference, but I manage my own list of what is blocked or allowed on my systems. I would be concerned that a group contributed list for this category of blocking could quickly devolve into a group-think censorship dominated by whomever is the most devoted to blocking and extending echo bubbles to peoples browsers.
Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?
#46Quoted post unavailable.
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Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?
#47Quoted post unavailable.
Interesting. I'm curious as to what you use instead of "whitelist" and "greylist"?
Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?
#48Isn't this Google's job? Are developers a small but lucrative target and so the suits at Google don't see the benefit of improving that experience by cleaning up the spam? Can we just nudge them to do so under the threat of an influential minority leaving due to their use case being affected?
Is there a word for this tendency to say, "it's someone else's job" as a justification for doing nothing at all to help or improve one's own circumstances? I see more and more of it in the public discourse over the last years and it kind of bothers me. I see it a lot in conversations related to poverty or climate change, but it is as we see here by no means exclusive to those topics. To the original replyer: you coul…
I suggest this because there can only be so many websites that use SEO to game their way to the top and bury the good results beneath them.
If we manage to block them, we might be able to get a results page with good sites upfront and the other meaningless content below it. I assume Google will also surface good content along with the bad, so our blacklist might enable the good stuff to reach the top.
The spam problem, I'm sure of yet, but we might either be able to block enough of it to be satisfied or it won't pose a problem for most searches that are currently giving bad results.
Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?
#49Im afraid this is potentially dangerously political. Are you only going to filter obvious spam and sites that republish other’s content, or are you going to block sites that are “harmful” or disseminate “disinformation”? Who will get to decide which media bubble I’m in?
This is a browser extension that you have to explicitly install and configure. You get to decide which media bubble you are in (setting aside the fact that google may or may not curate their search results.)
Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?
#50How about support better search engines instead?
It's usually better to support efforts that have a greater chance of succeeding, than supporting the ideal solution that is unlikely to happen.
...assuming "support" is a substantive action and thus a finite resource, and not just an upvote on a social media page.