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CNET is deleting old articles to try to improve its Google Search ranking

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Re: CNET is deleting old articles to try to improve its Google Search ranking

#561

Post by shostack »

JohnFen wrote: post #451
pmoriarty wrote: post #438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed something similar on youtube. I search for "how to do X", and instead of just showing me how to do it, which might take 30 seconds, they put a ton of fluff and filler in to the video to make it last 5 minutes. Typical video goes something like: 0 - Ads, if you're not using an ad blocker 1 - Intro graphics/animation 2 - "Hi, I'm ___, and in this video I'm going to show you how to do X" 3 - "Before I get i…

What makes this worse is that there's an increasing trend for how-tos to be only available on video. As someone who learns best by reading, I'm already at a disadvantage with video to begin with. To make it worse, instructional videos tend to omit a great deal of detail in the interest of time. Then when you add nonsense like you're pointing out, it makes the whole thing a frustrating and pointless activity.

Notice how Google frequently offers YouTube recommendations at the top of things like mobile results, or those little expandable text drop downs? My guess is it is because clicking that let's them serve a high intent video ad at a higher CPM than a search text ad.

Re: CNET is deleting old articles to try to improve its Google Search ranking

#562

Post by smsm42 »

pmoriarty wrote: post #438
dep_b wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you notice that nowadays a lot of websites have a lot of uninteresting drivel giving a "background" to whatever the thing was you were searching for before you get to read (hopefully) the thing you were searching for? People discovered that Google measures not only how much time you stay on a webpage but also how much you scroll to define how interesting a website is. So now every crappy "tech tips" website that…

I've noticed something similar on youtube. I search for "how to do X", and instead of just showing me how to do it, which might take 30 seconds, they put a ton of fluff and filler in to the video to make it last 5 minutes. Typical video goes something like: 0 - Ads, if you're not using an ad blocker 1 - Intro graphics/animation 2 - "Hi, I'm ___, and in this video I'm going to show you how to do X" 3 - "Before I get i…

Yeah, I usually skip up to a half of a typical video until they get to the point, sometimes more. People feel like just getting down to business is somehow wrong, they need first to tell the story of their life and how they came to the decision of making this video and why I may want to watch it. Dude, I am already watching it, stop selling it and start doing it!

Re: CNET is deleting old articles to try to improve its Google Search ranking

#563

Post by 6gvONxR4sf7o »

pessimizer wrote: post #68

So google's shitty search now economically incentivizes sites to destroy information. Can there be any doubt that Google destroyed the old internet by becoming a bad search engine? Could their exclusion of most of the web be considered punishment for being sites being so old and stable that they don't rely on Google for ad revenue?

I don’t see why google gets the blame when spam is what forces google to search how it searches.

Re: CNET is deleting old articles to try to improve its Google Search ranking

#564

Post by mrd3v0 »

NelsonMinar wrote: post #450
mrd3v0 wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And? I really do not get how a tweet from Google contradicts the fact that their search engine is hot garbage that incentivises spam, centralised silos and "SEO tricks" like what CNET is doing.

I don't have any agenda, it just seems like important context. c|net is doing something stupid and apparently it isn't even going to accomplish their goal. Maybe this statement from Google will help convince other companies not to do the same thing. FWIW, I'm as mad about Google quality going downhill as anyone's. The problem of sites doing stupid things for SEO purposes goes back at least 20 years though.

SEO is not reliant, and is often contradictory to statements like the one you quoted. No one who takes SEO seriously looks at what Google says. They look at how Google behaves.

Source: used to professionally offer SEO services.

Re: CNET is deleting old articles to try to improve its Google Search ranking

#565

Post by callalex »

seabass-labrax wrote: post #547
0x0203 wrote: post #516

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing I really wish sponsorblock would add is the ability to mask off some part of the screen with an option to mute. More and more channels are embedding on-screen ads, animations, and interaction "reminders" that are, at best, distracting.

uBlock Origin is my extension of choice for this. It makes it really easy to block those distractions, and there are quite a few pre-existing filters to choose from.

I think you missed what the poster is asking for. They want to block a portion of the video itself. For example when you watch the news on TV, there is constant scrolling text on the bottom of the screen with the latest headlines. They want to block stuff like that.

Re: CNET is deleting old articles to try to improve its Google Search ranking

#566

Post by simfree »

karim79 wrote: post #555
pmoriarty wrote: post #438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed something similar on youtube. I search for "how to do X", and instead of just showing me how to do it, which might take 30 seconds, they put a ton of fluff and filler in to the video to make it last 5 minutes. Typical video goes something like: 0 - Ads, if you're not using an ad blocker 1 - Intro graphics/animation 2 - "Hi, I'm ___, and in this video I'm going to show you how to do X" 3 - "Before I get i…

It gets even better when you subscribe to YouTube Premium. You get no random ad content which just cut into the feed at will, which makes for a somewhat better experience. But there's the inevitable "NordVPN will guarantee your privacy", " " ad. There is no escape. I actually pay for YT premium and it's SO much better than being interrupted by ads for probiotic yoghurt or whatever. I know there are a couple of plugin…

uBlock Origin and Sponsor Block provide a better experience than YouTube Premium.

Re: CNET is deleting old articles to try to improve its Google Search ranking

#567

Post by tonyedgecombe »

gretch wrote: post #507
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Storing and indexing and maintaining old content isn't free, in either dollars or environmental footprint. It's pretty close to free.

Why don't you go ahead and personally do it then? It's pretty close to free.

It's pretty close to free because they already pay for the infrastructure for the current content. The marginal cost is very low.

Re: CNET is deleting old articles to try to improve its Google Search ranking

#568

Post by jrockway »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #553
jrockway wrote: post #501

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, people are bad at editing. "I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I've written a long letter instead." I don't think it's a conspiracy. I definitely write super long things when I consciously make the decision to not spend much time on something. Meanwhile, I've been working on a blog post for the better part of 2 years because it's too long, but doesn't cover everything I want to discuss. If you wan…

> I mean, people are bad at editing. "I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I've written a long letter instead." I don't think it's a conspiracy. Making a long video isn't like writing a rambling letter. It takes work to make 10 minutes of talk out of a 1-minute subject. And mega-popular influencers do this, not just newbs who haven't learned how to edit properly yet.

"Tell me everything you know about Javascript in 1 minute." Figuring out what not to say is the hard part of that question. Rambling into the camera for an hour is easy.

Re: CNET is deleting old articles to try to improve its Google Search ranking

#569

Post by falloutx »

pohl wrote: post #506
dannysullivan wrote: post #496

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"We've been diligently working to improve the results" was the response to the question of "Are the employees at Google working on Search aware of how bad search results have become in the past year or two?" I thought that was a clear response. To be more explicit, yes, we're aware that there are complaints about the quality of search results. That's why we've been working in a variety of ways, as I indicated, to imp…

It was clearly a response, yes, but an answer is always better than a response. Thank you for answering!

I am of the opinion that its just internet becoming more spammy and unhelpful rather than google searching becoming bad. Every Tom and his mom seems to have a blog/website which they don't even write themselves. Most of the content on the internet is now for entertainment rather than purpose or knowledge. So, I do wonder if its just the state of the internet these days. As a layman, these days I just go directly to Wikipedia/reddit/youtube rather than searching on google.

Re: CNET is deleting old articles to try to improve its Google Search ranking

#570

Post by wlonkly »

simfree wrote: post #566
karim79 wrote: post #555

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It gets even better when you subscribe to YouTube Premium. You get no random ad content which just cut into the feed at will, which makes for a somewhat better experience. But there's the inevitable "NordVPN will guarantee your privacy", " " ad. There is no escape. I actually pay for YT premium and it's SO much better than being interrupted by ads for probiotic yoghurt or whatever. I know there are a couple of plugin…

uBlock Origin and Sponsor Block provide a better experience than YouTube Premium.

... on desktop. My kingdom for Youtube ad blocking on my TV.
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