Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Google Search Is Dying

dkb.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

621–630 of 1001 posts

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#621

Post by Lascaille »

floatingeye wrote: post #525
NoboruWataya wrote: post #241

It's interesting, and quite concerning, that Reddit has cemented its position as a key repository of useful information on just about everything just as its drive towards monetisation really kicks into gear. It's concerning because, as part of that monetisation strategy, Reddit is becoming increasingly walled off and anti-user. I am sure I am only one of many long-time Redditors who have vowed to stop using the site…

Can I ask what the important differences of old.reddit.com are?

Just use it and see for yourself. It's almost a 100% different user experience.

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#623

Post by lrem »

niccl wrote: post #592
bradgessler wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I too have found myself searching more in Reddit. Not to throw shade on Reddit, but even if I find exactly what I’m looking for in there, it’s depressing that it’s all bound up inside of another walled garden who will eventually have the same incentive as Google: squeeze every last advertising dollar out of the produc… I mean users. Like Google, it’s just a matter of time before they too lose their balance. A questio…

A factor in there has got to be 'who pays?' If it's hostile to advertisers, then there's got to be money to pay for the infrastructure from somewhere. Maybe a tax on ISPs? I think I'd happily pay $10 extra per month for access to an ad-free interrnet. Maybe $20. But how many of the people that are already happy with the ads and poor google results would do so? Would it be sustainable?

I think you're grossly underestimating how much is needed to replace the ad revenue that feeds today's Internet. Remember, majority of people wouldn't pay for getting rid of ads, because they don't have the disposable income. So they're also not really worthwhile to advertisers. You have to divide the revenue by some small fraction of current users.

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#624

Post by eldaisfish »

jedwhite wrote: post #585
softwarebeware wrote: post #6

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…

There's a reason why it seems shocking that Google has been able to balance the ads well enough that people still use it. They haven't! Google has orchestrated a monopoly over search engine distribution that allows them to get away with search results that are dominated by ads and spam, without losing most consumers. Let's be blunt here - almost no consumer consciously chooses to use Google search anymore. Google has…

>Let's be blunt here - almost no consumer consciously chooses to use Google search anymore

Do you have anything substantive to support this? I highly doubt it is true given the fact that the verb "to google" literally means "to search the internet".

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#625

Post by dwighteb »

jedwhite wrote: post #585
softwarebeware wrote: post #6

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…

There's a reason why it seems shocking that Google has been able to balance the ads well enough that people still use it. They haven't! Google has orchestrated a monopoly over search engine distribution that allows them to get away with search results that are dominated by ads and spam, without losing most consumers. Let's be blunt here - almost no consumer consciously chooses to use Google search anymore. Google has…

> It is in all practical senses impossible for an iPhone or Mac user to change their search engine to a new search engine on Safari or at the iOS level.

On my IOS device, under Settings -> Safari -> Search Engine, I have a drop down with options, including Bing and DuckDuckgo, but defaulted to google.

On Macos, with Safari running, Safari -> Preferences… -> Search, Search Engine I have a drop down, defaulted to google, with Bing and DuckDuckgo amongst other choices.

Agreed on google”s effort to get their search engine as the default. However I just don’t understand how changing search engine is impossible given what I’m seeing on my devices? Nor does it seem over the top onerous to my eyes.

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#626

Post by cyllek »

tiborsaas wrote: post #385
whywhywhywhy wrote: post #59

Still in shock that they killed reverse image search and replaced it with some useless AI tech demo. It used to use the actual image and be able to provide context from where that image was found elsewhere. Now it seems to throw the image at AI and the AI will go "Oh that's a street" then they will just show you streets with similar colors as the image you put in. Completely useless for trying to locate what movie a…

Not sure what you are talking about, but it's still available and it still works: https://imgur.com/a/u4864CK I've just dragged a random image from my desktop and hit "all sizes"

An update on chrome replaced google image search with "Search Image with Google Lens" in some instances

https://www.reddit.com/r/chrome/comments/rgcdbg/google_chrom...

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#627

Post by kahmeal »

eldaisfish wrote: post #624
jedwhite wrote: post #585

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a reason why it seems shocking that Google has been able to balance the ads well enough that people still use it. They haven't! Google has orchestrated a monopoly over search engine distribution that allows them to get away with search results that are dominated by ads and spam, without losing most consumers. Let's be blunt here - almost no consumer consciously chooses to use Google search anymore. Google has…

>Let's be blunt here - almost no consumer consciously chooses to use Google search anymore Do you have anything substantive to support this? I highly doubt it is true given the fact that the verb "to google" literally means "to search the internet".

I think you missed the point here -- people synonymize googling with searching and therefore aren't choosing to google -- they're choosing to search but ending up using google despite having made no conscious effort to do so (it's just there).

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#628

Post by tester756 »

aparsons wrote: post #13

I’ve posited repeatedly that when Reddit IPOs, I’ll be reallocating a significant chunk of my portfolio into their stock. Their management has historically lacked focus, but if Reddit ever builds a half-competent search index, and positions itself as a search-first, discovery-second destination, they will be in the FANG tier of stocks. They have the data. They have the dedicated, active user base. They have free mode…

>they will be in the FANG tier of stocks.

what?

forum moderated by random people for free in their free time

reaching MAGMA stocks?

ok, maybe I'm a bit snarky, but seriously the gap is giaaaaaaant

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#629

Post by zuminator »

The author's thesis is a bit confused. Reddit hasn't replaced Google as a search engine. Reddit does have a search function, but have you used it? It's frankly terrible. Rather, Google has become the search engine front end for the huge database that is Reddit. Currently they have a symbiotic relationship, but if Reddit ever decides to take its data private and build its own competent front end, it could potentially splinter off for itself a good chunk of traffic.

Re: Google Search Is Dying

#630

Post by streamofdigits »

"Google's results are clearly getting worse". Can somebody quantify this in some objective way?

As in: I have this concrete metric (that anybody can inspect / replicate) and I saw it declining from 201X to 2022 etc.

I don't dispute that it is a true fact. The comments reveal both ways that this manifests, inventive workarounds and possible causes. But without having read through the 765 comments(!) (at time of posting) I don't see something that can be quoted as a measured reality.

NB: It would be really useful to have such an independent quality index, also for future reference when invariably somebody provides a "better" search engine.

Post reply on HN