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Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image

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Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image

#71

Post by ocdtrekkie »

crazygringo wrote: post #27

When I search for "midjourney" without an adblocker a bunch of times, I'm getting: - No ads, with correct midjourney.com as the top result, about half the time - A legit ad for midjourney.com with the title "Your Imagination, Unlocked", the other half the time. It's the only ad, and the correct midjourney.com is also still directly below it as the first organic result So both seem fine for me. I've never seen ads on…

I am highly suspicious tech markets do not see realistic average Google behavior for whatever reason. The pervasive belief in tech that Google Search is even passable suggests people in the Valley or even Austin aren't getting the experience most people do.

I recall a Googler once suggesting to me that Googlers seeing ads might look like ad fraud to advertisers, so I'm not positive Googlers dogfood how bad this is either.

Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image

#73

Post by dvngnt_ »

justapassenger wrote: post #59
peab wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they didn't - hence the ads

It's a very common story in industry. You start nimble, and disrupt bloated platforms. Then, as you grow, pressure grows and you also bloat. Then new company comes that brings nimble product and disrupt you. Search, TV->internet video, newspapers->internet - all of them go through those cycles.

Used to be. Now the megacorp just buys the disrupting platform

Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image

#74

Post by jeremyjh »

LorenDB wrote: post #58
beckthompson wrote: post #20

Its sad but I think at this point its kind of a safety issue not to use an ad blocker. Those results are not clearly ads and I've clicked on fake links in the past when they were.

You also should just stop using Google Search. DuckDuckGo is solid, or if you don't want to use search results from Bing's index, I've been very happy with Brave Search.

I agree about DDG, but I find Kagi worth paying for.

Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image

#75

Post by MostlyStable »

Mistletoe wrote: post #28
freediver wrote: post #7

They still get away with it as ‘only’ 1% complain and Google thinks they don’t matter. We built our entire company for that 1%.

How will you fight the inevitable slide that happens if you ever got on top? I’m convinced Google started with the absolute best of intentions before the money and greed turned them into a horror movie villain.

Since they are subscription based and not ad based, their incentives are inherently aligned with customer preferences. This doesn't mean that they are immune from getting worse, or just becoming complacent, but it does at least make it less likely. Ad-supported companies succumbing to enshittification is virtually guaranteed thanks to the misalignment of basic incentives between the company and users (note: not customers).

Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image

#76

Post by inerte »

beckthompson wrote: post #20

Its sad but I think at this point its kind of a safety issue not to use an ad blocker. Those results are not clearly ads and I've clicked on fake links in the past when they were.

If you're trying to do anything in terms of official documents, there's a middleman charging more. I searched for "passport application" the other day and it was 4 ads of people offering this service.

My dad was trying to get an ESTA visa a couple years ago and ended up paying twice the actual price, because he can't discern what's the official site or not.

Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image

#77

Post by latexr »

jsheard wrote: post #12

They do the same thing on the Play Store, for example I just searched for Firefox and the first result is a sponsored spot for Opera. Does Apple do that on the App Store? A funnier example: searching for Amazon gives Temu as the first result. Searching for Temu gives Shein as the first result. Searching for Shein gives Shein as the first result! ...but only because they outbid everyone else for the ad spot on their o…

> Does Apple do that on the App Store?

Yes they do. Their search already sucks in normal circumstances—I remember searching for “Pinboard” (the bookmarking service) and had to scroll by thirteen pinball (the game) apps before starting to see Pinboard apps—but you can type in the exact name of the app you want had have an ad for a competitor above it. Not only is it allowed, it’s encouraged.

Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image

#78

Post by stinkbeetle »

CSMastermind wrote: post #19

I'm old enough to remember when a big selling point of Google was that it didn't do this.

My memory says that wasn't such a big selling point. When Google first came out it blew all other search engines away in terms of result quality.

If, back then, Yahoo and Altavista were minimalist and Google was a garish nightmare of ads and flashing gifs and nested banners and affiliate buttons, I would still have happily used it for the results.

Google's search interface is still reasonably clean IMO. Nowhere near its minimal best. Yes there are ads and "sponsored results" and shopping frames and all that crap, but they really aren't everything that's wrong with Google Search.

Quality of results and inability to specify queries beyond vague suggestions are the worst things.

Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image

#79

Post by jrootabega »

omnicognate wrote: post #41

There's no AI preview in that screenshot, so it's not everything that's wrong with Google Search.

search: "coffee is mostly water"

"No, coffee is not mostly water. That appears to be a misconception based on a popular television show. Coffee is actually about 98% water."

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