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For some searches the whole screen on Google is now ads

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Re: For some searches the whole screen on Google is now ads

#31
post #8

"We sell advertisement, not search results" https://twitter.com/krebs_adrian/status/1488173888068542466 https://www.google.com/about/honestresults/ (Note: the url of this page is /honestresults/)

I love that line. It's like coke saying we sell sugar water, not soda.

Re: For some searches the whole screen on Google is now ads

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think he created that web-page by modifying HTML?

It’s literally a cropped image that no one has said they can reproduce

So what if it is cropped, is the amount of ads shown in the screenshot with no actual search results acceptable to you? Does the fact OP has a smaller or larger resolution than you change your mind?

Re: For some searches the whole screen on Google is now ads

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm talking about the exact query in the OP. No one is shocked that Google has ads.

There is zero way to exactly replicate OPs query as Google heavily tailors results to each person, logged in or not. And yes, people are shocked at the amount of ads google is pushing.

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Re: For some searches the whole screen on Google is now ads

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I see this constantly when my adblocker is off. Search for anything related to "job search" et voila: https://i.imgur.com/dBXghPh.png Here's "mattress," which has ads that extend beyond the fold: https://i.imgur.com/Z9dGSKR.png Those two I just took. I mercifully cannot replicate this one anymore, but here's one for "indeed" I took in December, where LinkedIn had an ad that took up my entire laptop screen: https…

I'm talking about the exact query in the OP. No one is shocked that Google has ads.

The title of this post is "For some searches the whole screen on Google is now ads" - I hope it's shocking that that's true, irrespective of if we can replicate the exact ad placements in this post?

Re: For some searches the whole screen on Google is now ads

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s literally a cropped image that no one has said they can reproduce

So what if it is cropped, is the amount of ads shown in the screenshot with no actual search results acceptable to you? Does the fact OP has a smaller or larger resolution than you change your mind?

Literally the fifth result is what they were looking for. they crop that out and complain on twitter.

so yes, it's acceptable. use ad-block if it's not to you.

Re: For some searches the whole screen on Google is now ads

#36
The Facebook stock debacle from yesterday makes me think that maybe there is a limit to how user-hostile a tech giant can be before it really starts to hurt their bottom line. For a while it seemed like companies like FB had captured enough of the market that they seemed impervious to backlash from their many controversies, too big to fail in a way. It’s too early to tell if this is the beginning of FB’s demise, but it looks like letting resentment towards your product build among your user base can come bite you in a very real way after all.

FB used outrage as a way to increase engagement and it worked for a while, but now FB is increasingly a non-desirable place to hang out. Instead you can go to TikTok where you will find mostly amusing and at times informative content. When Apple added restrictions that cut off oxygen to FB, FB started a PR campaign to paint it as one grave injustice. It seems like that was met with a collective shrug. Who cheers for the bad guy?

All that is to say, it seems like Google has been in this value extraction mode for a while and I don’t see what the long term plan is. They don’t seem to be innovating much, but are instead intent on squeezing as much money as they can from their existing assets. And while that may work in the short term, FB has shown tech giants are not invincible. I’ve seen a lot of talk online lately about how bad the quality of search results have gotten. If a credible competitor emerges, I think a lot of users would gladly switch. If/when that happens, Google better hope they don’t find themselves in FB’s position where they can’t acquire their way out of their rut.

Re: For some searches the whole screen on Google is now ads

#38
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw this myself months ago with my father. He calls me up, and tells me that Google is only showing him ads, and he can't find any actual content. I figured it was some kind of malware he installed, but nope, I get over there and it's exactly like this screenshot. The entire first screen of results was ads. Then when I scrolled down, there weren't Google ads, but just a bunch of SEO spam. Wasn't gonna waste my time…

lol, OK what was the query? let's see the DDG and Google results side by side. I swear people always say nonsense like this and when I ask for specific queries they stop replying. Check my history if you doubt it. I don't doubt you saw ads, but Google very strictly limits the percentage of the screen that can be ads or percentage of results. If you can find a single query in which every result on the first page is a…

I'm on a 13" Macbook Pro, here's what a Chrome search for "Salesforce Integration" with my adblocker turned off looks like:

https://i.imgur.com/AkQWJeF.png

100% ads.

DDG for the same search is better, but not by much:

https://i.imgur.com/pcpxr4l.png

Re: For some searches the whole screen on Google is now ads

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

lol, OK what was the query? let's see the DDG and Google results side by side. I swear people always say nonsense like this and when I ask for specific queries they stop replying. Check my history if you doubt it. I don't doubt you saw ads, but Google very strictly limits the percentage of the screen that can be ads or percentage of results. If you can find a single query in which every result on the first page is a…

I'm on a 13" Macbook Pro, here's what a Chrome search for "Salesforce Integration" with my adblocker turned off looks like: https://i.imgur.com/AkQWJeF.png 100% ads. DDG for the same search is better, but not by much: https://i.imgur.com/pcpxr4l.png

what's after the fold? Why do you crop it so it only shows ads? so ridiculous. Google will almost never show more than 5 sponsored ads or some combination of 2-3 ads and sponsored modal. same is true with Bing, DDG, Startpage, etc.

this scenario of all of the results being ads is nonexistent. again if anyone can show me a reproducible query in which all results are ads, $5 - easy.

omg DDG 100% ads !111

https://imgur.com/a/A1bxnVQ

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