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Why Is the Web So Monotonous? Google

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Re: Why Is the Web So Monotonous? Google

#91
This SEO blog ecosystem isn't going to die anytime soon but alternatives will exist.

In the next 5 years, "Knowledge Networks" are going to become curated high-density graphs of domain-specific knowledge. Some will be paywalled, some will have ads, but you'll know how to find the information you're looking for.

Re: Why Is the Web So Monotonous? Google

#92
We all have to get better at using search engines to get past the SEO

Google "reminds me of Koh Lanta" turns up Boracay, Philippines in the top three links

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22reminds+me+of+Koh-Lanta%2...

No you ever used this phrase about anything in Croatia

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22reminds+me+of+Koh-Lanta%2...

Translating "reminds me of Koh Lanta" to Croatian doesn't help

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22podsje%C4%87a+me+na+Koh-L...

Re: Why Is the Web So Monotonous? Google

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Well, I built sort of exactly this: https://search.marginalia.nu/ What's the elevator pitch? What do you actually do that is special? From the about section: > This is an independent DIY search engine that focuses on non-commercial content, and attempts to show you sites you perhaps weren't aware of in favor of the sort of sites you probably already knew existed. > The software for this search engine is all custom-…

I know it’s of low value to ask, but who really gives a shit?

I do!

(also low value, perhaps :)

Re: Why Is the Web So Monotonous? Google

#94
> Google search results are significantly less helpful than they used to be.

> Anyway, forgetting that Google is bad at long tails, I search for `what is the koh lanta of croatia?`

Well, in at least one significant case Google searches are more helpful than they used to be, in that they now take into account natural language queries like "what is..." and try pretty hard to DTRT. Contrast that to "the internet of yore" that the author yearns for, where search engines - including Google - treated all words as keywords, and tended to weight them in the order they were given, so that the query would mostly look for pages containing the word "what", and "is" and "the", and then hope to find a subset containing "koh" and "lanta", and finally, almost incidentally, rank those by whether they might seem relevant to "croatia".

Incidentally, those old-style keyword searches may still provide better results in some cases. Try searching `croatia place charming slow cheap`, and see how that compares.

Re: Why Is the Web So Monotonous? Google

#95

This is a clear demonstration of the user's expectation of search having exceeded what's possible today. From the article: > Lets look at some examples. One of my favorite places in the world is Koh Lanta, Thailand. When traveling, I’m always on the lookout for places that give off the Koh Lanta vibe. What does that mean? Hard to say, exactly, but having tourist amenities without being touristy. Charming, slow, cheap…

Eh, I dunno. I feel like if there had been a human somewhere blogging or writing on a forum "I was thrilled to find this village in Croatia which really reminded me of my trip to Koh Lanta, one of my favorite places" -- then Google of 15 years ago would have found it and put it on the first page. Even if there are ten such things on the web today, I don't think it's gonna wind up in my google search. But am I overly…

I think you're overly optimistic about web of 15 years ago. You are more likely to end up with "CatLady05's archive Aug 2007 - list of beaches in Thailand (I'd like to visit some day!) - (blah blah) - summer trip to Venice - ..."

And then you learn that on a good day you could see Croatia from Venice, or something like that.

(I just completely made that up, don't quote me on that.)

Re: Why Is the Web So Monotonous? Google

#96
post #7

This is a clear demonstration of the user's expectation of search having exceeded what's possible today. From the article: > Lets look at some examples. One of my favorite places in the world is Koh Lanta, Thailand. When traveling, I’m always on the lookout for places that give off the Koh Lanta vibe. What does that mean? Hard to say, exactly, but having tourist amenities without being touristy. Charming, slow, cheap…

Maybe. If this were a couple of decades ago and this search were performed, the searcher may simply see zero results. This used to be an acceptable response from a search engine - unless there's some website that specifically contains the search term being sought, simply return zero results. Not thousands or tens of thousands results. What we get instead are incorrect results which are being presented as reasonable a…

Around 20 years ago I was trying to intersect data sets on two machines without transferring the entire set across the wire. I was slowly, painfully trying to invent Bloom Filters, because none of my searches turned up Bloom Filters. The company folded before I could well and truly embarrass myself.

Re: Why Is the Web So Monotonous? Google

#97
post #32

I have resorted to using Russian (Yandex) and Chinese (Baidu) search engines in the last few years. It is interesting that non commercial sources have more of a voice on these search engines than on Google today. Google is good at many things, but their leadership is questionable now, unlike in the past. I would pay a subscription fee for a service that provided partity with Google and customer service that answers t…

Aren't those heavily censored?

Yandex censors the results mostly for Russian IPs as far as I can tell, but they stay neutral for the outside users.

Re: Why Is the Web So Monotonous? Google

#98

We all have to get better at using search engines to get past the SEO Google "reminds me of Koh Lanta" turns up Boracay, Philippines in the top three links https://www.google.com/search?q=%22reminds+me+of+Koh-Lanta%2... No you ever used this phrase about anything in Croatia https://www.google.com/search?q=%22reminds+me+of+Koh-Lanta%2... Translating "reminds me of Koh Lanta" to Croatian doesn't help https://www.google…

Google's "It looks like there aren't many great matches for your search" response probably means you're onto something interesting :)

Re: Why Is the Web So Monotonous? Google

#99
post #67

This is a clear demonstration of the user's expectation of search having exceeded what's possible today. From the article: > Lets look at some examples. One of my favorite places in the world is Koh Lanta, Thailand. When traveling, I’m always on the lookout for places that give off the Koh Lanta vibe. What does that mean? Hard to say, exactly, but having tourist amenities without being touristy. Charming, slow, cheap…

>having tourist amenities without being touristy. Charming, slow, cheap. Ugh, this reminds me of the people that move from high tax places to low tax places but want all the benefits of high tax places at low cost. Now, back to the main point, if this was searchable it wouldn't exist. The number one complaint people have today is popular places are too busy, too many tourists come and prices go up and it's over ran.…

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to cringe at the lack of self-awareness on the part of the author at the inherent paradox of wanting something highly ranked by google but also quiet, cheap, and slow.

Here's a tip for the blog author. Learn a foreign language. Then search google in that foreign language. You might be surprised. Be the change you want to see.

Re: Why Is the Web So Monotonous? Google

#100
post #80

There's a lot of Google hate on HN, and much of it is deserved, but I think this particular trend of blaming Google for the prevalence of useless clickbait articles is a bit much. The real answer to this question is that walled-garden social media took over everything. The much-pined-for "Old Google" worked because people used to actually create content on their own sites, and not just post it on walled garden monoli…

I disagree because it’s 100% within Google power to purge junk websites, see Panda in 2011. But they didn’t want to do that anymore. Why? Because of ads money. To drive the point home, it is not that difficult for Google to have a junk score and simply phase out the junkiest of junks. But they didn’t even want to do that.

If Google purged sites at their own digression to such a degree, then HN would just be complaining about that instead.
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