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Google is dead. Where do we go now?

circusscientist.com

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Re: Google is dead. Where do we go now?

#311

Post by perardi »

Sharlin wrote: post #256
bsimpson wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting to see how much of a behemoth Discord has become. Seems like there's a Discord for everything - from open source projects to hobbies and games to individual groups of friends/family. It's occupying the segment that subreddits historically have. However, it's perhaps-intentionally search-opaque. You can't Google to find a message/link/download that's gated by Discord. And it also gives a sense of comm…

If only Discord weren't so incredibly bloated and full of stupid features aimed at 14-year-old gamers.

Ugh. Sigh.

My rugby team uses Discord for chat and announcements.

It feels…gross…inappropriate…it feels weird to use a UI covered in green gamer UI slime.

https://imgur.com/a/eoa8arH

Re: Google is dead. Where do we go now?

#314

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #290
PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google seems relatively good at never giving me SEO crap near the top of most of my search results. And a list of links to original sources or close to it is precisely what I do want. If you want an LLM to generate an answer from its training data, that's fine, but go use a different search engine instead of demanding that the one many of us have relied on for decades has to do that.

I don't believe I was demanding anything of the sort. If you're happy with Google, enjoy. I am adding my own anecdotal experiences to other's (who appear also to have found search lacking for some time now).

You stated that you did not want a list of links. I am not sure what other alternatives there are, but AFAIK, they will all involve LLMs in some way and be a quite different way to present the results of a "search" than traditional search engines.

So, if not that, then what?

Re: Google is dead. Where do we go now?

#315

Post by magicalhippo »

baxtr wrote: post #172
bluedino wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The person kept making the comment that she couldn't see/find the puck and it made it frustrating to watch. Lifelong hockey fan, I never understood this complaint. I believe it was FOX that did the 'highlight the puck' thing for a few years in the 1990's. You can't see the ball in American football, either. But you don't need to. The guy that's running and everyone is trying to tackle? He has the ball. Just like th…

What I’ve always found fascinating is that I could always clearly see the puck in any stadium, no matter how high up I sat. It was impossible to miss. However, when watching hockey on TV, it’s incredibly difficult to see the damn thing.

As a gamer this seems obvious to me. It's long been clear to me that our eyes are very adept at processing high-speed motion. Even the first 120Hz LCD gaming monitor, as sucky as it was, was miles bette than the 60 Hz on the market.

So while technically our eyes might not discern individual frames higher than 25 FPS or so, our brain can absolutely process data from a much higher effeice framerate. The motion blur fast thing naturally produce for example, provides critical context clues.

In gaming, sure 240 Hz won't help you see more as such, but it allows your eyes to do what they naturally do and give a much improved experience of fluidity and superior motion prediction.

Re: Google is dead. Where do we go now?

#316

Post by lifeisstillgood »

tsunamifury wrote: post #259
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a feeling that it is mostly unsophisticated advertisers bidding up the price of AdWords.

As someone who leads large parts of ad tech for TikTok and worked at Google for 10 years, it’s the K shaped economy that is pressing SMBs out. Pure and simple Everyone can make up some complex theories but I see it in the numbers every day. Spend distribution is now k shaped and SMBs simply can’t compete at top end performance levels.

This seems one of the more important comments here - a K shaped economy (Rich get richer up the rising arm of the K and the rest of us are on the down arm) dominates everything (ie asset price inflation means if you had assets in 2020 you probably still do else good luck) and this just is one of many ways the playing field has tilted towards the richest.

And it is always a choice - we choose platforms and regulations and spending priorities. If “we” choose a different set of tech regulations the K shaped economy can be put back in its box.

For me the problem was most clearly outlined by Cory Doctorow “developers did not unionise or rebel in time because they thought of themselves as temporarily embarrassed entrepreneurs”.

Re: Google is dead. Where do we go now?

#317

Post by LunaSea »

tsunamifury wrote: post #259
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a feeling that it is mostly unsophisticated advertisers bidding up the price of AdWords.

As someone who leads large parts of ad tech for TikTok and worked at Google for 10 years, it’s the K shaped economy that is pressing SMBs out. Pure and simple Everyone can make up some complex theories but I see it in the numbers every day. Spend distribution is now k shaped and SMBs simply can’t compete at top end performance levels.

Wouldn't the K shape only affect targeting of affluent users that are desirable to luxury brands?

Re: Google is dead. Where do we go now?

#318

Post by bix6 »

tsunamifury wrote: post #259
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a feeling that it is mostly unsophisticated advertisers bidding up the price of AdWords.

As someone who leads large parts of ad tech for TikTok and worked at Google for 10 years, it’s the K shaped economy that is pressing SMBs out. Pure and simple Everyone can make up some complex theories but I see it in the numbers every day. Spend distribution is now k shaped and SMBs simply can’t compete at top end performance levels.

Can you share any numbers ie roughly how different the spend is? SMB spends $1k on ads but grandes spend $1M or something? Idk how it works.

Re: Google is dead. Where do we go now?

#319

Post by DANmode »

echelon wrote: post #87
AznHisoka wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AI SEO is where the attention is going, with ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini/Google AI Overviews replacing the need for people to visit websites

It's unnatural to search an LLM for a product. It's why Alexa never became a shopping portal. Best way to get the word out about a product now is through an influencer in the space. -- Edit: Show of hands for anyone using ChatGPT to shop. Be honest. People don't even use Google to shop. They try to find something either (1) by brand name, eg. "iphone" or (2) generically by category, eg. "best cold weather tent". In t…

> Show of hands for anyone using ChatGPT to shop. Be honest.

Show of hands for anyone still compiling 500 Amazon reviews by hand…

This won’t necessarily work well in a year (month?),

but up through now?

Absolutely I’ve been using assistants for some shopping purposes.

Re: Google is dead. Where do we go now?

#320

Post by akoboldfrying »

fairity wrote: post #125

Surprised to see this upvoted because the takeaway is completely incorrect, and based on the anecdotal evidence of one advertiser. As someone who spends seven figures every month on Google ads, what’s much more likely to be happening here is that the individual advertiser is either getting outcompeted or they’re executing ads poorly. Google ads revenue in the US continues to grow every quarter. And, since advertisers…

He's been using AdWords for 10 years, so I wouldn't assume incompetence there.

It's just as likely that people are simply spending less on entertainment due to high cost of living.

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