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Actually though, is SEO/spam so out of control that allegedly the best software engineers in the world are unable to counter it? Are bad results actually good for google in some perverse ad-based way? Do people at google actually use their products at all?
Actually though, is SEO/spam so out of control that allegedly the best software engineers in the world are unable to counter it? Are bad results actually good for google in some perverse ad-based way? Do people at google actually use their products at all?
It's really disturbing just how bad Google search has become. For so many cases Google actually is only useful as a search interface for Reddit, StackOverflow, and other sites that accumulate (and actually garbage collect) knowledge. Without such a qualifier Google will just give you absolute SEO trash results for many types of searches.
I'd just like to note the irony of saying how bad Google is while at the same time saying that Google's general purpose search engine is still better than any of the specific search engines of these individual sites. Perhaps the issue isn't that Google is bad, and the issue is that search is incredibly hard.
Now Google won't even acknowledge "" anymore, and having to hold its hand and guide it towards a single website which I already need to be aware of, is pretty pathetic compared to what Google was once able to do. Also the fact that it gives back so much spam and even puts it at the top of results.
> Google's general purpose search engine is still better than any of the specific search engines of these individual sites
This is only partially true. Google's search engine is definitely better than Reddit, but that is really not hard (I need to emphasize this, as reddit's search is really bad, unless it is old.reddit, then it is at least somewhat OK), but for many other sites the reason to pick Google is just convenience.
> Perhaps the issue isn't that Google is bad, and the issue is that search is incredibly hard.
I think the issue is more Google deliberately allowing and pushing all that spam, because users that find what they seek will spend less time on the site. Otherwise I find it hard to explain this drastic drop in quality. Would also explain why they are taking away all the useful search and query tools.
Or the people responsible for working on it just don't have the skill anymore, who knows.
Actually though, is SEO/spam so out of control that allegedly the best software engineers in the world are unable to counter it? Are bad results actually good for google in some perverse ad-based way? Do people at google actually use their products at all?
It's not that they can't counter it, it's that there's less and less to find...
Google should probably just buy Reddit and run it at a loss. This may not be good for us the users, and might end up killing Reddit in the long run, but it's better for both Google and Reddit than the current situation.
Reddit's valuation is insane right now, they got in before the "correction" so it's at some absurd multiple. Anyone trying to buy Reddit would need to basically lowball the hell out of them and make the case that an IPO will only be worse (which may or may not be true).
Even if they IPO, wouldn’t the stock immediately crash if it’s overvalued?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd just like to note the irony of saying how bad Google is while at the same time saying that Google's general purpose search engine is still better than any of the specific search engines of these individual sites. Perhaps the issue isn't that Google is bad, and the issue is that search is incredibly hard.
They are bad now, but they were exceptional few years ago. Same thing with Gmail, now I get obvious spam in my inbox and real email in the spam folder. Looks like they gave up.
It's really disturbing just how bad Google search has become. For so many cases Google actually is only useful as a search interface for Reddit, StackOverflow, and other sites that accumulate (and actually garbage collect) knowledge. Without such a qualifier Google will just give you absolute SEO trash results for many types of searches.
I'd just like to note the irony of saying how bad Google is while at the same time saying that Google's general purpose search engine is still better than any of the specific search engines of these individual sites. Perhaps the issue isn't that Google is bad, and the issue is that search is incredibly hard.
It's bad because their incentives aren't aligned with their users. The shit results they are giving aren't because they can't give good ones, they are because they don't want to.
I haven't noticed this, but have seen the complaints. I don't tend to see many reddit links in my search results, and haven't noticed a change since that blackout. Perhaps just the nature of my searches?
Kinda odd how Google search hasn't learned yet that Reddit results are higher quality, at least for me? Almost like it's not optimizing for quality of results...
It's almost like Google's optimizing for revenue on results has created the Reddit situation. Can't find better results without filtering for Reddit explicitly, so people end up on Reddit and end up posting on Reddit and around and around it goes.
It's really disturbing just how bad Google search has become. For so many cases Google actually is only useful as a search interface for Reddit, StackOverflow, and other sites that accumulate (and actually garbage collect) knowledge. Without such a qualifier Google will just give you absolute SEO trash results for many types of searches.
It would certainly be an interesting next turn of events if Google made an offer to buy out Reddit - just for the user-generated content and to stop the site from self-destructing, i.e. the golden goose offing itself. It's unlikely given current capital interest rates, but at this point this drama has pretty much crossed the borders of plausible fiction anyway.