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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

#241

Post by heavyset_go »

hartem_ wrote: post #216

The not so happy thing about this is that at this point the entire web is somewhat flawed. Too many sites have produced too much junk content just to game Google. A fundamentally new approach is needed to identify and surface “organic” (whatever that may mean) results. So I suspect (albeit with no data to show for it) that even if we just switched all ads off we still wouldn't be happy with the results that we see. G…

> The not so happy thing about this is that at this point the entire web is somewhat flawed. Too many sites have produced too much junk content just to game Google. A fundamentally new approach is needed to identify and surface “organic” (whatever that may mean) results. So I suspect (albeit with no data to show for it) that even if we just switched all ads off we still wouldn't be happy with the results that we see.

Honestly, I suspect that if you deprioritize pages with ads, referral links and sponsored content in search results, this problem will mostly solve itself.

The glut of garbage on the web comes from people trying to make a quick buck online, and I suspect Google is happy to show that content because the garbage is laden with Google or their partners' ads. Even content that doesn't have ads, but encourages visitors to buy products, is valuable to Google because they can use that information to show users more ads or funnel them into buying products via Google Shopping.

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

#242

Post by mtgx »

mv4 wrote: post #204
tomatofrank wrote: post #201

Last night I watched a YouTube video that had a song in the background that I hadn't heard but really liked. I pulled up Shazam but it didn't recognize the song, so I took to Google. I entered the lyric and added the search terms "lyrics" and "r&b" at the end. Google returned 4 YouTube videos to songs that didn't contain the lyric, a link to a Boyz II Men song on Genius that didn't contain the lyric (good job Google,…

but they reported great financial results.

No post body was provided.

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

#243

Post by CamperBob2 »

mmind wrote: post #150

Many people here suggests other services, including services you can pay for to bash Google. The reality is that Google offered Google Contributor and now offers YouTube premium but most people prefer free content with ads. And that is fine. I find very surprising the HN folks complaining about the tech companies making ads-based money for their services when they are not willing to pay for the ad-free version. It is…

Also, I hear home taping is killing music.

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

#244

Post by heavyset_go »

tomatofrank wrote: post #239
heavyset_go wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was it Save Your Tears by The Weeknd?

Yup! The version I was looking for was a slowed & reverb version that I later found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkXCAKgqD3M

I was able to find it with this search: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22like+you+didn%27t+care+I+...

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

#245

Post by jacquesm »

lolinder wrote: post #226
jacquesm wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Millionshort is an attempt at fixing this. https://millionshort.com/

The problem is that even the small sites are playing the same SEO game. If you remove the top X, you might just end up cutting out what you're looking for and still end up with a bunch of SEO'd results.

Ok, let's make an SEO detector and ban every site that plays that game.

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

#246

Post by jordigh »

function_seven wrote: post #155
ssss11 wrote: post #2

Yeah I’ve noticed this too. But also the rest of the front page is often either seo spam (like those Pinterest links which catch whatever search term you’ve used) or shopping sites. I’ve found google search to be increasingly hostile to its customers. I guess we’re not the customers. Use duckduckgo or something else.

My biggest feature request: A check box that says, "[ ] I'm not buying anything" I don't know how technically hard this would be to implement. Or what business model will resist adding it. I just know that most of my web searches are NOT me trying to buy stuff. They're usually looking up information. Like, how does the load sensing algorithm work on my LG washer? No chance I'll ever find out by searching the web. Onl…

> My biggest feature request: A check box that says, "[ ] I'm not buying anything"

The primary purpose of ads isn't to get you to buy something. It's to plant a brand in your brain so that next time you do want to buy something, you'll think of the brand.

Ads are very good psychological manipulation.

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

#248

Post by function_seven »

jordigh wrote: post #246
function_seven wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My biggest feature request: A check box that says, "[ ] I'm not buying anything" I don't know how technically hard this would be to implement. Or what business model will resist adding it. I just know that most of my web searches are NOT me trying to buy stuff. They're usually looking up information. Like, how does the load sensing algorithm work on my LG washer? No chance I'll ever find out by searching the web. Onl…

> My biggest feature request: A check box that says, "[ ] I'm not buying anything" The primary purpose of ads isn't to get you to buy something. It's to plant a brand in your brain so that next time you do want to buy something, you'll think of the brand. Ads are very good psychological manipulation.

I’m not talking about ads. I’m talking about the “natural” search results.

Of course those are also really ads in a sense, but somehow there’s got to be a way to provide a real search engine that doesn’t show only e-commerce sites. I’ll pay for it!

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

#249

Post by lolinder »

alberto7 wrote: post #168
jdrc wrote: post #160

it s really a mess. Searching for 'viper' brings up 'Viber' as the first result, the rest is cars except for a link to 'viperidae'. It's a goddamn snake, google

Eugh yes. This is getting worse and worse so rapidly. If your search term happens to also be a currently popular song or artist then you may as well skip ahead a couple of pages.

Same thing if there's a movie adaptation of the book you're looking for.
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