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Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?

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Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?

#141

Post by burnished »

nixcraft wrote: post #122
jhchabran wrote: post #5

That's an ambitious goal, I'm not sure to see how that would be maintainable on the long run. On a much smaller scale, if anyone is interested, I maintain a black list focused on those code snippet content farms that gets in the way when you're searching for some error message or particular function here https://github.com/jhchabran/code-search-blacklist .

May I know why my domain (cyberciti.biz) was added to that list? I created my site back in 2000, and there was no StackOverflow or anything. So much for creating original content and then getting labelled as a spammer. In fact, some of the top answers on StackOverflow were copied from my work without giving any credit to me. Some people do give credit tho. But, go ahead block a site that actual humans maintain over 2…

At first scan your site looks like one of those automated scrape and republish sites. I'm curious what got you on that blacklist (misspelling? bad first impression? automated tool gone awry?) though.

Glad you said something though, I wouldn't have looked at it twice without a human attestation.

Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?

#142

Post by littlecranky67 »

achtung82 wrote: post #136
littlecranky67 wrote: post #135

I wonder why Apple is not starting it's own search engine. I mean yes, they get >$1Bn per year making Google the default on iOS+macOS, but they have plenty of cash so they wouldn't need it. They would get immediately ~10% market share when it is launched, just because it would be made the default on their devices. From their they just need to present better search results than Google (which shouldn't be that hard rig…

But what would be their incentive to do so? Normally they launch products and make it exclusive to their devices so more people will buy iPhones, but that is difficult to do with a search engine. Otherwise they would have to get into the ad business like Google.

Apple is a publicly traded company, and every company needs to grow into new markets to make more revenue. And they also maintain their own browser Safari, even though on macOS they could just withdraw from market and leave the field to Chrome and Firefox. Even amongst macOS users Safari usage is very low and doesn't make Apple any money.

On the other hand you can see how Google is using its dominance in Search to push its browser and mobile OS - once you login to Google in Chrome on your phone, suddenly they can track you when you use their mobile Apps etc. And Apple is trying hard to grow in the "Services" field, i.e. through Apple Music and Apple TV - both available to Windows and Android users too. Just as they made a buttload of money with iTunes and the iPod because they also targeted Windows users.

Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?

#143

Post by burnished »

germandiago wrote: post #89
asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> Is there a word for this tendency to say, "it's someone else's job" At the risk of sounding pretentious, I call it "socialist", since they spend their lives telling others what to do or what is good or not for the rest of us but they rarely do anything about it. Surprisingly, this is the group that is really worried about poverty and climate change and do as much as I do for it, with the difference that I do it by…

Oh wow, an uncritical hot-take refers to some one they disagree with as being a 'socialist', you're so revolutionary. I wonder where you could have gotten the idea that all of your problems are the fault of the 'socialists'.

Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?

#144

Post by omnicognate »

antihero wrote: post #124
JonathanBuchh wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve also been using https://kagi.com for the past couple of days and have found the search results to be unparalleled to both Google and DuckDuckGo. I haven’t come across any SEO spam and the results seem to be of better quality overall. They have all of the same bangs DDG uses and get results from Bing, Google, and a bespoke index. Because they query Bing and Google, it will be pretty expensive when it launches (it…

Hmm, annoyingly some bloody invite based thing instead of just being able to try the damn thing. What is this, 2004?

I'm on the waitlist. AIUI they intend this to be a paid service eventually, which is highly desirable to me. If it can be made to work, I would very much like a search service that is directly paid for by its users, rather than funded via side channels such as advertising or paid results placement that create skewed incentives.

If they're not ready to charge for use yet, a limited preview makes more sense than a public free service.

Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?

#145

Post by jpalomaki »

pluc wrote: post #75

Use a search engine that doesn't fuck up your results instead of trying to unfuck the results it gives you. Why go through this much effort to still give your money to google?

Wonder if the alternatives are really fixing the SEO spam problem by improving their algoritms or manually pinning sites like StackOverflow to the top.

Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?

#146

Post by germandiago »

profunctor wrote: post #95
germandiago wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is there a word for this tendency to say, "it's someone else's job" At the risk of sounding pretentious, I call it "socialist", since they spend their lives telling others what to do or what is good or not for the rest of us but they rarely do anything about it. Surprisingly, this is the group that is really worried about poverty and climate change and do as much as I do for it, with the difference that I do it by…

This has nothing to do with socialism. Since it is a problem under capitalism why don't we call it "capitalist". Or maybe we could just say lazy.

The irony here about socialism for me is that I find plenty of people that would fall in those ideals (not only in those, but most of the time) that tell you what is good or bad for everyone else but they seldom do what they say. That is why I said "everyone else's job" is an approximation of "socialism" in my view.

I cannot see how that would be a vice of capitalism since capitalism is basically non-intervention and freedom.

Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?

#147

Post by ericbarrett »

littlecranky67 wrote: post #135

I wonder why Apple is not starting it's own search engine. I mean yes, they get >$1Bn per year making Google the default on iOS+macOS, but they have plenty of cash so they wouldn't need it. They would get immediately ~10% market share when it is launched, just because it would be made the default on their devices. From their they just need to present better search results than Google (which shouldn't be that hard rig…

Apple is allegedly paid lots of money to not do this: https://www.macrumors.com/2021/08/27/google-could-pay-apple-...

Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?

#148

Post by lgats »

littlecranky67 wrote: post #135

I wonder why Apple is not starting it's own search engine. I mean yes, they get >$1Bn per year making Google the default on iOS+macOS, but they have plenty of cash so they wouldn't need it. They would get immediately ~10% market share when it is launched, just because it would be made the default on their devices. From their they just need to present better search results than Google (which shouldn't be that hard rig…

apple already has its own search engine. the crawler is known as AppleBot and the results power siri search suggestions.

it’s limited to popular queries, so for many searches you may get ‘no results, search the web (google)’.

i made a bit buggy web front end for siri search so i could better play around with the results https://luke.lol/search/

Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?

#149

Post by throwawayboise »

LinuxBender wrote: post #45

This 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.

That, or it would be gamed by the SEO folks like they do every other thing that was once good.

Re: Ask HN: Let's build an HN uBlacklist to improve our Google search results?

#150

Post by u2077 »

antihero wrote: post #124
JonathanBuchh wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve also been using https://kagi.com for the past couple of days and have found the search results to be unparalleled to both Google and DuckDuckGo. I haven’t come across any SEO spam and the results seem to be of better quality overall. They have all of the same bangs DDG uses and get results from Bing, Google, and a bespoke index. Because they query Bing and Google, it will be pretty expensive when it launches (it…

Hmm, annoyingly some bloody invite based thing instead of just being able to try the damn thing. What is this, 2004?

They also have a browser that’s still in beta. Here’s the direct link to test flight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/DeC8ZDnu (got this after a month on the waitlist)
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