Google’s top search result is Google • Hacker News Board

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#211

Post by chris_f » Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 5:55 PM UTC

elpool2 wrote: post #180

chris_f wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Is there a way we could get quick curated answers like this without deemphasizing search results?" Yes, here is an example of how it could work: https://www.runnaroo.com/search?term=myocardial+infarction Disclaimer, I made this website.

But this website also deemphasizes search results in favor of curated answers, just like Google.

"But this website also deemphasizes search results in favor of curated answers, just like Google."

That is not correct. On desktop, organic search results take up the middle 60% of the screen with nothing above them. The curated results are in the sidebar.

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#212

Post by renewiltord » Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 5:58 PM UTC

john-shaffer wrote: post #147

vntok wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google does not force companies to implement ReCaptcha on their own Web properties.

Many government websites use reCAPTCHA. I do not have any choice in using it. If I were to block Google to avoid tracking, I could not function in society.

The gov.uk guys have figured out this problem. As usual, the US NIH syndrome gets in the way. Give the UK guys a call, 18F. Learn how to do this right.

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#213

Post by renewiltord » Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 5:59 PM UTC

zentiggr wrote: post #187

torgoguys wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>“We want to get you out of Google and to the right place as fast as possible,” co-founder Larry Page said in 2004. The article presents you as some sort of "gotcha" quote demonstrating how Google overturned a core value or something. Yes, Google search results have changed, but what it is now is very much in the spirit of that original value. I searched for something. Google gave me the answer directly. Boom, I'm do…

And who gives a crap about the livelihoods of the sources Google pulled that info from and now will never see your traffic. You think Google did all the original research and information creation to populate their answers? And since when do they provide decent attribution and link-throughs to the sources they used, so you can check their graph? Or do you really trust Google's automation of everything to generate accu…

It’s the same thing as with ads and ad blocking, etc: your business model is not my problem.

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#214

Post by chris_f » Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 6:00 PM UTC

jefftk wrote: post #207

elpool2 wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this website also deemphasizes search results in favor of curated answers, just like Google.

When I run the search on mobile I see six screens of information scraped from Wikipedia and NIH before it starts showing organic links. This is good user experience, but it's the same "problem" that the original article is objecting to.

"When I run the search on mobile I see six screens of information scraped from Wikipedia and NIH before it starts showing organic links."

That is a fair criticism for mobile where the sidebar collapses to the top. On desktop, organic results take up the majority of the screen and the curated results are shown only in the sidebar.

With limited screen space on mobile it is difficult to see multiple sections of results at the same time. The only change I could think of would be to adjust the CSS so that the sidebar collapses bellow the organic results.

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#215

Post by renewiltord » Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 6:01 PM UTC

onionisafruit wrote: post #79

chimen wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just tested and tried translating English to romanian (my language) - doesn't exist :)

What I gather from this is DeepL has far fewer inaccurate translations from English to Romanian.

My translation service from /dev/null is even better than these two services. Not a single false translation. Guaranteed!

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#216

Post by jefftk » Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 6:02 PM UTC

chris_f wrote: post #214

jefftk wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I run the search on mobile I see six screens of information scraped from Wikipedia and NIH before it starts showing organic links. This is good user experience, but it's the same "problem" that the original article is objecting to.

"When I run the search on mobile I see six screens of information scraped from Wikipedia and NIH before it starts showing organic links." That is a fair criticism for mobile where the sidebar collapses to the top. On desktop, organic results take up the majority of the screen and the curated results are shown only in the sidebar. With limited screen space on mobile it is difficult to see multiple sections of results…

I like it the way it is!

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#217

Post by 1337shadow » Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 6:05 PM UTC

chimen wrote: post #40

kevingadd wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I will get mad when those products have better alternatives but it's not the case. Build better alternatives and I'm on board." How will you find out about the better alternatives? Are you certain there aren't good alternatives to translate, maps, flights, shopping etc? For any language? I know for a fact that google translate is bad for some ideographic languages and as a result there are competing services that co…

I am constantly trying new things. I just ditched duckduck go for the third time. I'm using firefox since 2 months. I am aware of alternatives. I WANT to ditch Google too but I get value from it atm that I cannot find elsewhere.

DDG has an IRC channel on Freenode, I went one day asking about result quality when searching for Python stuff because it used to send me on documentation pages for old versions.

Something happened, because a few weeks later it appeared that DDG started getting me results for the current version of Python.

You might want to try to reach out to DDG if you have some improvement suggestions.

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#218

Post by simonkafan » Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 6:07 PM UTC

chimen wrote: post #23

Many of them save me extra clicks which is convenient. Google translate, maps and search has no competitors that even come close in terms of quality. I will get mad when those products have better alternatives but it's not the case. Build better alternatives and I'm on board. In the end, Google is a business - I would promote my own shit on the first vertical as well. One thing that pisses me off is the AMP ordeal bu…

You write this like its a fact but it's just your opinion. Deepl.com for example is on par and imho even better than Google Translate for some languages.

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#219

Post by Ntrails » Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 6:11 PM UTC

neya wrote: post #202

onion2k wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Build better alternatives and I'm on board. In the end, Google is a business - I would promote my own shit on the first vertical as well. You: I wish people would build products that successfully compete with Google. Also you: It's fine if Google do things that stop their competitors successfully competing with Google. This is literally exactly the reason why anti-trust laws exist - to stop a company who are successf…

> unfairly dominating other areas Out of curiosity, what exactly about Maps is unfair? They made money, they invested it in better mapping technology. You could say the same about Apple too, they bundled their Maps application with every iPhone sold which you couldn't even uninstall for a long time. And they had more money than Google too - yet their maps application was and still is garbage. It just so happens Googl…

> Apple too, they bundled their Maps application with every iPhone sold which you couldn't even uninstall for a long time.

And even now, having done so, clicking on an address to copy it will take you to a page telling you to reinstall maps to see it...

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#220

Post by personjerry » Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 6:21 PM UTC

Some of the answers in this thread actually allude to the bias in this study: People actively change their behaviors to accommodate Google's knowledge panels, meaning some portion of the "15000 top search queries" they studied are actually people seeking Google's results, not general search results.