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Fewer Than Half of Google Searches Now Result in a Click

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Re: Fewer Than Half of Google Searches Now Result in a Click

#151

Post by vilhelm_s »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #53
criddell wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A bunch of those things aren't really searches though, are they? I do queries like "2 tbsp in tsp" or "45 * 22" or "$25 CDN in USD" all the time and I don't think of them as a search. Same goes for my Echo. I ask it all the time for today's weather or what time the Texas Rangers are playing or who is the starting pitcher for the Giants tonight. None of that feels like a search.

Well, simple math isn't, but think about your currency conversion, your weather lookup, or your sports schedule. Where did Google get the data for those things? Does whoever provided that data have expenses, and did Google compensate them in any way for those expenses or did Google lift the data for free with GoogleBot?

I think they generally pay for it. It came up with song lyrics a couple of weeks ago, where Genius accused Google of scraping lyrics from Genius, but as it turns out Google payed a third party vendor LyricFind for them, and LyricFind pays the copyright holder, so if anything it seems Genius was more in the wrong...

https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/18/18684211/google-song-lyri...

Re: Fewer Than Half of Google Searches Now Result in a Click

#152

Post by Nasrudith »

ska wrote: post #106
buboard wrote: post #43

Just remove your microdata and other site-specific metadata. HTML was fine to begin with, its not our problem if facebook or google can't read a tag properly. Everyone forgives the transgressions that google does because "it's Google", but when Elsevier does the same thing (appropriating and locking other people's IP for huge profits), they 're starting riots.

> but when Elsevier does the same thing [... ]they 're starting riots To be fair, that's a slow burn. Academics have been talking about this for decades now.

Not to mention the issues are apples and oranges - Elsevier is acting as a gatekeeper for public research. Google is at worst exploiting fair use at scale.

Re: Fewer Than Half of Google Searches Now Result in a Click

#153

Post by mikeg8 »

amelius wrote: post #140
cyrusshepard wrote: post #86

I think what folks are missing is that a lot of these "zero-click" searches happen as a result of Google scraping your website, and displaying the results as a "featured snippet." Yes, they link to you below the featured snippet. No, more people don't click, because they've taken the answer from your website and displayed it right in their search results. For example: If I'm searching for "best nail for cedar wood" G…

Shouldn't they be liable for mis-information? Wouldn't that solve the entire problem?

I don’t see any way to actually achieve this at scale let alone any reason to add an opening for more pointless lawsuits. Let’s say they’re liable and you choose to act on incorrect information recieved for free. Do you really try to take them to court and on what grounds?

Re: Fewer Than Half of Google Searches Now Result in a Click

#154

Post by ummonk »

ALittleLight wrote: post #69
buboard wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotally, i am noticing a steady decline in adsense RPMs for the exact same audience over past 2 years, and adsense is now most of the time not filling the ad slot. Also, it has gotten very hard to rank in google for new sites. SEO blackhat tactics rule, and even local businesses use them. Google went from win win to win-get lost. Sadly, now that webmasters need it the most, investments in alternatives to search a…

I feel the same way about ranking new websites. In high school, friends and I made a website for which we did zero search engine optimization (nor were we even aware of search engine optimization). We still ranked in relevant queries and easily got an audience of about ten thousand uniques a month. Today, I struggle to get sites I make to show up on Google at all. For my most recent website, even searching for phrase…

To your last sentence specifically though, I wouldn’t want Google to use ads data to influence non-ads rankings.

Re: Fewer Than Half of Google Searches Now Result in a Click

#156

Post by acollins1331 »

cletus wrote: post #15

So a common trope in the startup world is the difference between a feature and a company, the idea being that lots of features are masquerading as companies. This inevitably leads to them being shocked--SHOCKED--when some bigger player adds that feature, eating their lunch. I feel the same way about a lot of outbound sites on Google. There are a bunch of things I just don't want to go to another site for. Off the top…

The automatic calculator and translator is what me switch back from DDG a few weeks ago.

Re: Fewer Than Half of Google Searches Now Result in a Click

#157

Post by ibudiallo »

I have a particular page on my blog that mostly appear as the answer to a question "Can you do X with Y tool". Before Google started displaying it as a snippet, the post was getting decent traffic, and the comments were more somewhat moderate.

Then the snippet appeared, and a bunch of negative comments started to appear. To clarify, my answer was not a solid yes or no, but more of my experience with the tool. But Google snippets conveniently answers with a section that says: "It is pointless."

User's read the snippet, are enraged, click, don't bother to read the article, jump to the comment and say "YOU ARE WRONG."

Now, the controversy brings a decent amount of traffic. But unfortunately, the traffic is not from people reading in the first place.

Re: Fewer Than Half of Google Searches Now Result in a Click

#158

Post by TeMPOraL »

skybrian wrote: post #142
nostromo wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google could fix that if they wanted to. I remember when Google used to push content developers to be better: no paywalls, no overlays, faster response times, no scammy ads, no content farms. Those days seem to be over. Google is constantly sending me to content behind paywalls and under pop up content.

I agree that paywalls seem more common. But the early web had plenty of popups and scummy ads. Popup blockers were added to browsers quite a long time ago. Content farms were huge before Google started kicking them out in 2011. Have they made a comeback? Google's latest attempt to keep the crap under control (AMP) is very unpopular on Hacker News, but I guess it shows they are trying to do something?

> Content farms were huge before Google started kicking them out in 2011. Have they made a comeback?

Have they not? Content marketing seems as alive as ever, if not more.

> Google's latest attempt to keep the crap under control (AMP) is very unpopular on Hacker News, but I guess it shows they are trying to do something?

Because we - myself and many of those other HNers disliking it - believe that with AMP, making web more performant and less crappy is only an excuse, and one that doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

Re: Fewer Than Half of Google Searches Now Result in a Click

#159

Post by acdc4life »

puranjay wrote: post #29
cletus wrote: post #15

So a common trope in the startup world is the difference between a feature and a company, the idea being that lots of features are masquerading as companies. This inevitably leads to them being shocked--SHOCKED--when some bigger player adds that feature, eating their lunch. I feel the same way about a lot of outbound sites on Google. There are a bunch of things I just don't want to go to another site for. Off the top…

I understand your stand, but what Google did with its featured snippets is essentially a form of bait and switch. It encouraged entrepreneurs and creators to create content that could answer specific queries with the promise that Google will drive traffic to their sites. Now Google is using the same content and depriving them of the traffic. That's pretty scummy in my opinion.

I prefer Googles snippet to visiting a shitty site. This is one of the few instances that I fully support Google. If websites want to stay relevant, they need to be more inventive.

Re: Fewer Than Half of Google Searches Now Result in a Click

#160

Post by wool_gather »

rchaud wrote: post #146
SilasX wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hm, I think there's scumminess on both sides, since (as GP noted) even simple sites (e.g. for lyrics) are bloated and unusable. Before: User: Hey Google, what's the monthly payment on a 20-year mortgage with 3.9% APR? Google: Oh, MortgateSite would know, go there. MortgageSite: Here's your calculator. User: Okay, let me put in the numbers ... awesome, thanks! Oh, neat, they can hook me up with lenders. Let me take a…

And yet if you type in a mortgage-related query, the first few entries Google will show you are ads. Not the calculator you're looking for. Even then, mortgages aren't something Google can realistically calculate because lenders don't structure loans that simply. There is a fixed rate period, and a variable period after that. First-time searchers may get suckered in by a personal finance site that relies on ads just…

The ads in search results are a utterly, completely different character to the on-site garbage parent is talking about. They are simple text entries that are clearly marked.
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