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Google Search Is Dying (2022)

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Re: Google Search Is Dying (2022)

#191

Post by carlosjobim »

dgb23 wrote: post #167
owisd wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree that whatever ranking system google uses will just be gamed to the same extent. If google downgraded the rank of pages with lots of ads and trackers it would substantially reduce the incentive to game the system, the reason it won’t is because most of those pages are running Adsense so there’s every incentive for google to keep the status quo.

I use search engines for two reasons: - to gather compressed information quickly - to navigate the web The first point is best served by sources that I like and trust, often authoritative to some degree. If they already have a good search (like MDN or Wikipedia) I will often use that directly or go via DDG: !mdn keyords..., !wiki keywords... If not, I type the name of the website as a keyword in front (like reddit...…

Those sites will demand a % of sales to let anybody into their garden, while search engines demand nothing. That can work for digital products that are of unlimited supply.

Re: Google Search Is Dying (2022)

#192

Post by jmillikin »

mmcgaha wrote: post #150
kstenerud wrote: post #7

The worst is the SEO pages, especially for popular how-to topics. Every single first page result will be a page that has expanded what used to be said in bullet point form, into a 1500 word essay that you must now slog through in order to get the information you need. And this is by necessity, because Google values prose over bullet points. The majority of things that come up on search nowadays consist of computer-ge…

Maybe I am wrong about this, and maybe the SEO junk sites would find a way to evolve, but what I really want from google is a plonk button so I can have a personal kill file for sites that I never want to see again.

Google used to support this[0], and I used it happily for blocking low-quality domains such as Experts Exchange, certain Wikia subdomains, and Pintrest. The feature was later removed[1] in favor of a browser extension, but the extension was less functional because it could only filter out results from the current page, so heavily-spammed keywords had result pages with only one or two links.

Nowadays, with the results being entirely spam for multiple pages, I think a return of the server-side filtering would be necessary if it's to be at all useful. Otherwise you'll get page after page of blank SERPs.

[0] https://searchengineland.com/google-brings-back-blocking-sit...

[1] https://searchengineland.com/googles-more-personalized-resul...

Re: Google Search Is Dying (2022)

#193

Post by tacker2000 »

projektfu wrote: post #98

"How do I fix some odd setting in Windows, Mac, whatever" 2007: results include documentation, a couple forums, if you're unlucky there's a potentially malware tool that's discovered people need to fix this. 2012: results include Reddit and Stack Exchange, documentation has disappeared, forums have opened that are full of "support specialists" telling you to reset your windows install. 2023: top results are just blog…

Apple forums are also quite bad. Every suggestion is to reset SMC and thats it.

The Stack overflow / stack exchange websites are often the only ones where you get useful answers when having any sort of problems regarding the user facing part of the OS.

(And also for anything else to be honest. I think 30% of my questions on google are answered by stack exchange websites)

Re: Google Search Is Dying (2022)

#194

Post by benjaminwootton »

chimprich wrote: post #76
tokinonagare wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Reddit was Yes, it was somewhat good in the past but an alternative is sorely needed. Most popular subs (at least the one I frequent) are moderated to the point that censored would be the more appropriate word to describe the situation. Then there are whole subs banned (including non political) for wrongthink.

> Then there are whole subs banned (including non political) for wrongthink I don't really like defending Reddit, because I don't like them as a company, but I don't think this is correct. There's a financial incentive for them to not ban subreddits, so groups have to behave quite obnoxiously or blatantly break Reddit's rules to get banned. Just having a certain political disagreement is not nearly enough. And if you…

They banned a large Covid sub r/NoNewNormal where the bulk of the content would be accepted as common sense today.

Themes in that sub were that “the cure is worse than the disease” (it was) and that “we shouldn’t throw away our way of life for Covid” (we chose not to in hindsight).

If you are a member of subs like r/lockdownskepticism even today then you frequently get banned from other subs.

Re: Google Search Is Dying (2022)

#195

Post by carlosjobim »

tazard wrote: post #122
yunohn wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you provide less monetisation for content creators, you end up with less content too. This is not as simple as you think…

Less content is fine when the issue is too much junk content. Content would then be created by enthusiasts instead of businesses

> enthusiasts instead of businesses

Those are more and more the same person - especially when it comes to online ventures.

Re: Google Search Is Dying (2022)

#196

Post by nottorp »

yunohn wrote: post #105
owisd wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree that whatever ranking system google uses will just be gamed to the same extent. If google downgraded the rank of pages with lots of ads and trackers it would substantially reduce the incentive to game the system, the reason it won’t is because most of those pages are running Adsense so there’s every incentive for google to keep the status quo.

If you provide less monetisation for content creators, you end up with less content too. This is not as simple as you think…

> If you provide less monetisation for content creators

But I don't want to "consume content", I want to "get information". Most "content creators" don't provide any info. Or at best there is some info there but you have to watch an hour worth of video for the 20 useful seconds.

Re: Google Search Is Dying (2022)

#197

Post by Retric »

KarlKemp wrote: post #159
owisd wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree that whatever ranking system google uses will just be gamed to the same extent. If google downgraded the rank of pages with lots of ads and trackers it would substantially reduce the incentive to game the system, the reason it won’t is because most of those pages are running Adsense so there’s every incentive for google to keep the status quo.

No, the reason they won't is that trackers and ads have little to do with the value of the content. As long as there are any ads, the incentives stay the same. You're saying an internet completely free of monetary incentives would be better. I doubt that's true but it really doesn't matter, because it won't be happening.

You misunderstand, if you penalize excessive advertising then the revenue generated per page view decreases. This will reduce but not eliminate the amount of effort spent on these projects resulting in fewer such webpages.

So ‘How to unclog a toilet’ is always going to get SEO optimized spam. However, most topics don’t get that many views making them less viable for this business model.

Re: Google Search Is Dying (2022)

#198

Post by carlosjobim »

j_crick wrote: post #130
kstenerud wrote: post #7

The worst is the SEO pages, especially for popular how-to topics. Every single first page result will be a page that has expanded what used to be said in bullet point form, into a 1500 word essay that you must now slog through in order to get the information you need. And this is by necessity, because Google values prose over bullet points. The majority of things that come up on search nowadays consist of computer-ge…

And the worst of SEO pages are cooking recipes, where you have to scroll down screens of badly written meaningless text before you actually get to ingredients list. At least Google still keeps indexing recipe microformats.

Search your recipes on YouTube. It is a better way of getting the information and higher quality.

Edit: To the friendly people downvoting me: Try for yourself and you'll be surprised how much good and informative content you can find on YouTube.

Re: Google Search Is Dying (2022)

#200

Post by coding123 »

I can't find anything related to what is happening to my dad on Google except a bunch of vax deniers. Added reddit and found many other people with ALS after vaccine. He's on a bypap now and will be dead in a few weeks.
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