It's quite common for teenagers on TikTok to use a screenshot of the often-wrong snippet at the top of the Google results page as evidence in whatever crusade they're currently on.
In 2020, two thirds of Google searches ended without a click
301–310 of 412 posts
Re: In 2020, two thirds of Google searches ended without a click
#302Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I search Google now I mostly get spam. “Product vs. Product” -> list of spam websites that just show them side by side with ads. “Product Review” -> same as above, spam. “Product referral code” -> sites with spam and no codes. Interesting web content is in Reddit (and youtube), Google exists as a tool to search Reddit since the “new” Reddit site is awful. Programming questions are mostly stack overflow, but occa…
Amazon search is similarly broken. Try to find an ECC DIMM on Amazon. Everything I try results in dozens of listings for non-ECC DIMMs. Even searching for " ECC" doesn't work all that well. It's sad that in these days of advanced neural networks, we can't get a simple binary attribute matched correctly in search results.
I guess it's location based too (like Google is). Searching for "ECC DIMM" returned a bunch of actual ECC memory chips available to ship overseas on the first page of results on Amazon.com, though I'd still suggest being more specific when searching for ECC RAM myself (eg. RDIMM or UDIMM or...).
Re: In 2020, two thirds of Google searches ended without a click
#303Earlier quoted context omitted.
IMO Google Image search has gone down hill significantly too. Getting full pages of pinterest results was bad enough but now on my phone you have to scroll past multiple screens worth of Google Shopping ads or images tagged with the "Product" icon before you see any actual, organic photos of the thing you're looking for.
I know this sounds implausible, but I find Bing image search so much better than Google.
Bing had a problem with images of child sexual abuse, and with bestiality images. I don't know if they've fixed that.
Re: In 2020, two thirds of Google searches ended without a click
#304That doesn't surprise me. I look up answers to questions and definitions of words using google and seldom click through because I get what I need in the results. Not sure that's 2/3 of my usage of Google but that may not be far off.
Re: In 2020, two thirds of Google searches ended without a click
#305Earlier quoted context omitted.
Amazon search is similarly broken. Try to find an ECC DIMM on Amazon. Everything I try results in dozens of listings for non-ECC DIMMs. Even searching for " ECC" doesn't work all that well. It's sad that in these days of advanced neural networks, we can't get a simple binary attribute matched correctly in search results.
I guess it's location based too (like Google is). Searching for "ECC DIMM" returned a bunch of actual ECC memory chips available to ship overseas on the first page of results on Amazon.com, though I'd still suggest being more specific when searching for ECC RAM myself (eg. RDIMM or UDIMM or...).
I did, and that helped a little, but it's just sad that what should be a solved problem by now isn't. Nearest neighbour search is so not helpful to me in many cases.
Re: In 2020, two thirds of Google searches ended without a click
#306Google results have gotten dramatically worse over this last decade. Google now seems to fixate on the most common terms in my query and returns the most generic results for my geographic area. And, it seems like quotes and the old google-fu techniques are just ignored or are no longer functional. There are a whole host of factors behind this, but I'm certain that the switch to Natural Language Processing / Semantic…
Yep, I haven't used Google search in a few years now, ddg has been better at not spamming me
Re: In 2020, two thirds of Google searches ended without a click
#307Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I search Google now I mostly get spam. “Product vs. Product” -> list of spam websites that just show them side by side with ads. “Product Review” -> same as above, spam. “Product referral code” -> sites with spam and no codes. Interesting web content is in Reddit (and youtube), Google exists as a tool to search Reddit since the “new” Reddit site is awful. Programming questions are mostly stack overflow, but occa…
I have a cat that is always ravenous for anything edible, even if it's not exactly typical cat fare, e.g., my leftover salad, berries, etc. Trying to search for "can cats eat X" after he manages to get a few sneaky morsels is almost pointless. There are so many spammy sites for every value of X, and I have no idea if it's a sophisticated problem to systematically exclude this type of useless content, but Google's top…
A commenter deeper in the thread mentioned the example of
can cats eat asparagus
I tried Google search, and produces a semi-useful snippet at the top, and reasonable results afterwards. Can you share what search you ran that had very bad results?
Can cats eat asparagus? ... It is neither toxic nor dangerous for our cats to consume in very small portions, but neither is it truly beneficial to them. Cats are obligate carnivores. Unlike dogs, who can and do eat everything they can wrap their jaws around, cats tend to be much more finicky eaters.
Can Cats Eat Asparagus? - Is It Safe For Cats? - ExcitedCatsexcitedcats.com › Blog Feb 12, 2021 — Vegetables, including peas, carrots, and asparagus, are safe for most cats to eat in small quantities. However, remember that your cat isn't going ... Interesting Facts About... · Which Vegetables Can I... · Is Asparagus Safe for Cats?
Can Cats Eat Asparagus - Cats Dogs Blogcatsdogsblog.com › can-cats-eat-asparagus Oct 18, 2020 — Although there are benefits for giving your cats asparagus, the potential risks are far much dangerous and outweigh the benefits. It is therefore not ...
Why Do Cats Like Asparagus? (And Is It Safe?)betterwithcats.net › why-do-cats-like-asparagus The short answer is that yes cats can eat asparagus in small amounts without any problems. But while asparagus is quite healthy for humans, your cat really doesn't need to eat it.
Re: In 2020, two thirds of Google searches ended without a click
#308Google results have gotten dramatically worse over this last decade. Google now seems to fixate on the most common terms in my query and returns the most generic results for my geographic area. And, it seems like quotes and the old google-fu techniques are just ignored or are no longer functional. There are a whole host of factors behind this, but I'm certain that the switch to Natural Language Processing / Semantic…
When I search Google now I mostly get spam. “Product vs. Product” -> list of spam websites that just show them side by side with ads. “Product Review” -> same as above, spam. “Product referral code” -> sites with spam and no codes. Interesting web content is in Reddit (and youtube), Google exists as a tool to search Reddit since the “new” Reddit site is awful. Programming questions are mostly stack overflow, but occa…
"Most of the rest of the web is junk."
That's true. But out amongst that is the result you actually wanted that google doesn't have any incentive to lead you to.
Re: In 2020, two thirds of Google searches ended without a click
#309In the article, what does CTR stand for? Did miss it?
Re: In 2020, two thirds of Google searches ended without a click
#310Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't believe for a second that Google's algorithms are unable to identify and remove content marketing blogspam from the results. It must be profitable somehow for the majority of search results to be utterly useless.
> I don't believe for a second that Google's algorithms are unable to identify and remove content marketing blogspam. Easy for me to believe. They have to use some formula, and as soon as they change it, well, there's a massive industry dedicated to getting around it. If their algorithm is just "filter out what's useless", that's AGI.
Then what’s the point of using Google? In terms of AGI, we have that if Google where to say employ people to look at say the top million searches and heavily penalize junk they could make real headway.
Personally, I swapped to DuckDuckGo in 2019 and have been consistently happier but Bing or whatnot is probably equally valid at this point.