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Why Google is so unbearable, and how to fix it

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Re: Why Google is so unbearable, and how to fix it

#121

Post by freediver »

Nextgrid wrote: post #63
Beltiras wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I might be a target audience for them and willing to pay a nominal fee monthly for good search I'm quite sure there isn't a market for it.

Just 1% of Google's market might be enough to sustain a non-bloated, VC-free company and make a good product. The Bloomberg Terminal is extremely expensive and yet companies pay for it because it makes their traders' jobs so much more efficient. I don't see why companies wouldn't do the same for a search engine that filters out all the bullshit so their employees don't have to waste their time wading through it.

You are right. And the actual number is lot smaller. We just need 0.001% of Google users to be sustainable with the current team size. (or about 50,000 users out of 4.3B Google users). And if you find 50k users, you will find 100k. First 5k is tricky!

(Kagi founder here)

Re: Why Google is so unbearable, and how to fix it

#122

Post by Cthulhu_ »

baggachipz wrote: post #13

Google is so unbearable because they are no longer interested in you finding the answer to your query; they're interested in selling your query and its context to the highest bidder. That conflict of interest manifests in what Google has become.

Some years ago there were some serious Warnings issued from Google: Make your website fast and small! Popups will be PUNISHED! as will mobile-unfriendliness!

But in hindsight, this was a ploy from them to try and upsell AMP, which was in a lot of cases heavier than non-AMP websites, and it was a means to keep people inside of their ecosystem - and inside of their advertising network, because not all websites Google linked to had Google adverts on it.

They've given up on AMP. They've given up on improving search results quality. Dare I say they've given up on improving the web? I mean they're still putting some money into Chrome and HTTP/3 and the like.

Re: Why Google is so unbearable, and how to fix it

#124

Post by soneil »

lupire wrote: post #49
rglullis wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. We are not looking for hire someone to do a job. We just want to be able to search for content online without middlemen interjecting themselves in the hopes of monetizing the interaction.

And who do you expect will provide that content for you, for free?

The irony is that the garage is doing a fantastic job up until that point.

If someone is so clueless about changing a tyre that the best place they can start is google, then organically taking them to the garage's page is a win. Maybe they'll find the information useful, maybe they'll decide they're out of their depth and call the number on the screen.

For them to show up as the first organic result is a huge win. All they have to do with that win is not screw it up. And 9 meg of trackers, a page full of popups, and pointless CTAs (do you want to hire someone who can't change a tyre?) is screwing up that easy win.

You don't have to be scummy to turn search results into profit. That garage came so, so close of being a great example, before they threw it away and made a bad example.

Re: Why Google is so unbearable, and how to fix it

#125

Post by scarface74 »

baggachipz wrote: post #13

Google is so unbearable because they are no longer interested in you finding the answer to your query; they're interested in selling your query and its context to the highest bidder. That conflict of interest manifests in what Google has become.

That’s what it always was.

Re: Why Google is so unbearable, and how to fix it

#126

Post by mojuba »

chii wrote: post #79
mojuba wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thought the same, but it would be unfair to web sites that are actual web apps and are JS-heavy. Google is hopeless anyway, so here's something for the next search engine that wants to bring back the Web: downrank by the number of 3rd party domain requests, attempts of tracking, and possibly also popups.

How would one detect what is a popup and what is an interactive dialog that the user actually desires?

If you show an example of something that pops up right after the initial load, and that a user actually desires, we'll think of ways. I can't think of any right now. Things should pop up in response to a click, generally.

Re: Why Google is so unbearable, and how to fix it

#127

Post by Cthulhu_ »

AltruisticGapHN wrote: post #71

`site:` is great. As an aside, anyone knows if you can still find "who links to?". I used to do this to hear how people feel about my site/app. I would do something like `link:foo.bar.com` I don't remember if it was link: or linkto: but it seems it no longer is supported? :(

I dunno about "who links to" functionality in the search engine itself, but this information can be found if you set up Google Analytics, which is probably what they want you to do anyway because that data is worth a lot to them.

Re: Why Google is so unbearable, and how to fix it

#129

Post by endisneigh »

jjulius wrote: post #113
svnpenn wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please stop pushing some site thats still in beta, AND requires a login.

Why?

There’s no way to test without giving your info away and taking a long survey from what I remember. It’s kind of like posting Facebook links I suppose.

Re: Why Google is so unbearable, and how to fix it

#130

Post by bstar77 »

baggachipz wrote: post #13

Google is so unbearable because they are no longer interested in you finding the answer to your query; they're interested in selling your query and its context to the highest bidder. That conflict of interest manifests in what Google has become.

I'm using Google less and less in favor of Youtube. It's not always convenient to get answers in video form, but I'm finding it's better for more involved answers. Also, google is just littered with Answers/Quora/StackOverflow/etc dodgy clones that make searching questions a nightmare.
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