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Google Search Is Dying

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Re: Google Search Is Dying

#61
post #17

Alternative interpretation: Google so useful that it instantly searches whatever sub-corpus you desire if you simply mention it in your question. Google says it shows zero ads on 80% of searches. So the whole "ads now take up entire screen" thing is based on the qualitative ramblings of twitter accounts who don't know what they are talking about.

[deleted]

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#62

I can’t this article seriously: > Why are people searching Reddit specifically? The short answer is that Google search results are clearly dying. What’s the connection between Reddit being searched for and Google dying? Read the article, doesn’t make sense. Might as well say that GitHub is dying because Discord is where many projects have community discussions. People are always saying Google is dying or search resul…

Honestly, I would blame Discord for Google's inability to return good results as much as anything else, a bunch of the new "authentic" discussion has moved there and other non-indexable platforms.

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#63

Some really good thoughts here. I'll summarize the ones that hit me: - "Why are people searching Reddit specifically? The short answer is that Google search results are clearly dying. The long answer is that most of the web has become too inauthentic to trust." This is it for me exactly. I search for the following kinds of things on Reddit exactly because results on other sites aren't trustworthy: Reviews are secretl…

> This is the most annoying behavior because I really mean what I write. Tons of people don't, though. They type whatever unprocessed half-second thought they have into Google and expect Google to lead them to the water, even if they're tugging and trying to go in the completely wrong direction. Google has optimized for working 'most of the time' for 'the most people', and that means striving for fixing the complete…

Tons of people don't, though

Do they? I see this stated all the time, with no references.

They type whatever unprocessed half-second thought they have into Google and expect Google to lead them to the water

Perhaps if Google didn't try to fix things for people, they would be more thoughtful with their searches.

Take away the junk food, and people will resort to real food. The same way some cities limit parking at big events so that people have to take mass transit. It's for their own good, but they have to be shown the way.

Google has optimized for working 'most of the time' for 'the most people

This may be Google's goal, but it hasn't happened yet.

I don't have very many friends or acquaintances in the tech bubble, so I base my observations around real people in the real world. More and more they're giving up on Google entirely.

Their primary search engines these days seem to be Instagram, Pinterest, Etsy, Amazon, and other non-Google sources.

When I ask someone why they're searching Amazon reviews for tech support information, they tell me because it's not on the web. That's Google's failure.

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#64
There have been many interesting threads recently about the decline of Google's search quality here on HN. There's zero doubt search results are getting worse, and that ads and spam are the cause. But Google's financial performance has been going from record to record. So there is a huge disconnect building in the market.

Each thread has had some common themes, but what's surprising is how different the problems discussed are. Here are a few of the best recent discussions:

Google no longer producing high quality search results in significant categories (twitter.com/mwseibel):

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29772136

Search engines and SEO spam (twitter.com/paulg):

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29782186

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

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29794372

DuckDuckGo Traffic - with spam discussion

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29852783

Is Google Search Deteriorating?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29886423

Ask HN: What's Up with Google?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30031672

Tell HN: Google doesn't work anymore for exact matches

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30130535

For some searches the whole screen on Google is now ads https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30213110

Disclaimer: I'm working on a search startup, so I have a clear bias, but one of the main reasons I am working on a search startup is because Google's results are clearly getting worse.

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#65

Google used to be really, really good at finding exactly what I told it to find. Nowadays, it's turned into the yellow pages; sponsored content from businesses trying to sell me goods and services. Can people suggest good alternatives or search patterns for certain categories of information or search types? Some of the search patterns I currently I use: * Youtube for product reviews and demos, entertainment, music an…

I've had some luck inserting "forum" into search terms to find real human content. Mostly when trying to find technical info about cars, but may apply to other fields.

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#66

Some really good thoughts here. I'll summarize the ones that hit me: - "Why are people searching Reddit specifically? The short answer is that Google search results are clearly dying. The long answer is that most of the web has become too inauthentic to trust." This is it for me exactly. I search for the following kinds of things on Reddit exactly because results on other sites aren't trustworthy: Reviews are secretl…

> This is the most annoying behavior because I really mean what I write. Tons of people don't, though. They type whatever unprocessed half-second thought they have into Google and expect Google to lead them to the water, even if they're tugging and trying to go in the completely wrong direction. Google has optimized for working 'most of the time' for 'the most people', and that means striving for fixing the complete…

Here's a perfect example of this phenomenon.

https://archive.md/wwMY3

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+old+is+linux&oq=how+old+...

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#67

Some really good thoughts here. I'll summarize the ones that hit me: - "Why are people searching Reddit specifically? The short answer is that Google search results are clearly dying. The long answer is that most of the web has become too inauthentic to trust." This is it for me exactly. I search for the following kinds of things on Reddit exactly because results on other sites aren't trustworthy: Reviews are secretl…

> This is the most annoying behavior because I really mean what I write. Tons of people don't, though. They type whatever unprocessed half-second thought they have into Google and expect Google to lead them to the water, even if they're tugging and trying to go in the completely wrong direction. Google has optimized for working 'most of the time' for 'the most people', and that means striving for fixing the complete…

That's like speaking to little children, that are learning to talk, reproducing their errors. Some adults believe that it's cute, but it's idiotic, confuses the babies and make their progress more difficult and slow.

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#68
I mean you can't blame Google too much. In the early days, a large fraction of Internet users made websites and had hand-picked, curated links. This gave Google a fantastic ranking signal with a high signal-to-noise ratio. This is mostly gone now and honestly I'm surprised their search is as good as it is.

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#69

Some really good thoughts here. I'll summarize the ones that hit me: - "Why are people searching Reddit specifically? The short answer is that Google search results are clearly dying. The long answer is that most of the web has become too inauthentic to trust." This is it for me exactly. I search for the following kinds of things on Reddit exactly because results on other sites aren't trustworthy: Reviews are secretl…

Great take on the topic. I completely agree, love the small communities that form in Reddit and there I can find the experts to ask.

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#70
Word of warning regarding the "site:reddit.com" trick: even reddit can get astroturfed.

I share OP's pain though. I wish there was a search engine that actively filtered affiliate link laden/spammy/SEO'd/etc content.

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