Google Creates 'Dedicated Placement' in Search Results for AMP Stories

After switching to DDG few years ago, I used google search again for the first time in a while was surprised How bad their search has become. Not because it’s not good, it’s still better than DDG at certain things, but because the results have been crowded out by so much junk.

There were so many ads, snippets, did you also means, and AMP widgets that there was only room for about eight actual search results.

How have they let their core product get so lost?

Re: Google Creates 'Dedicated Placement' in Search Results for AMP Stories

#6

Post by lettergram » Sat, May 11, 2019, 2:29 PM UTC

mattkevan wrote: post #5

After switching to DDG few years ago, I used google search again for the first time in a while was surprised How bad their search has become. Not because it’s not good, it’s still better than DDG at certain things, but because the results have been crowded out by so much junk. There were so many ads, snippets, did you also means, and AMP widgets that there was only room for about eight actual search results. How have…

Indeed! I too was slapped with this when I did a recent Google search. I had to wade through a ton of what I’d call “story cards” - I.e. a square around some story Google wanted to highlight. I couldn’t get to the actual results until half way down the page.

Luckily, DuckDuckGo has been improving and now it’s even what I recommend to non-technical people; as I never use “!g” any more.

Re: Google Creates 'Dedicated Placement' in Search Results for AMP Stories

#7

Post by ocdtrekkie » Sat, May 11, 2019, 2:39 PM UTC

deogeo wrote: post #2

I'm looking forward to antitrust action being taken against Google due to trying to lock publishers into AMP.

At this point, I suspect Google execs know it's inevitable, and figure the more lock-in they can build with standards now, before it happens, the harder it will be to meaningful strip Google's power.

Re: Google Creates 'Dedicated Placement' in Search Results for AMP Stories

#8

Post by mattkevan » Sat, May 11, 2019, 2:55 PM UTC

lettergram wrote: post #6

mattkevan wrote: post #5

After switching to DDG few years ago, I used google search again for the first time in a while was surprised How bad their search has become. Not because it’s not good, it’s still better than DDG at certain things, but because the results have been crowded out by so much junk. There were so many ads, snippets, did you also means, and AMP widgets that there was only room for about eight actual search results. How have…

Indeed! I too was slapped with this when I did a recent Google search. I had to wade through a ton of what I’d call “story cards” - I.e. a square around some story Google wanted to highlight. I couldn’t get to the actual results until half way down the page. Luckily, DuckDuckGo has been improving and now it’s even what I recommend to non-technical people; as I never use “!g” any more.

Really dislike those story cards.

They get in the way of actual results, steal traffic from the sites the content is from and don’t deliver enough information to be useful. Not once has a story card provided what I needed.

Re: Google Creates 'Dedicated Placement' in Search Results for AMP Stories

#9

Post by judge2020 » Sat, May 11, 2019, 2:58 PM UTC

mattkevan wrote: post #5

After switching to DDG few years ago, I used google search again for the first time in a while was surprised How bad their search has become. Not because it’s not good, it’s still better than DDG at certain things, but because the results have been crowded out by so much junk. There were so many ads, snippets, did you also means, and AMP widgets that there was only room for about eight actual search results. How have…

Google realizes their biggest loss leader is directing customers off of their website to other websites, so the best way to turn a profit is to either keep users on the site (snippets, calculators[0], amp) or to send them to other sites for a price via ads.

0: https://goo.gl/search/right+rectangular+pyramid+calc:+find+A

Re: Google Creates 'Dedicated Placement' in Search Results for AMP Stories

#10

Post by tobr » Sat, May 11, 2019, 3:06 PM UTC

Shame on Venturebeat for reporting Googles’s messaging on this without as much as mentioning the criticism AMP has been met with, or how this makes it even more problematic.