Live data from Hacker News

google.com/goto: Google's anti-scraping update

autom.dev

371–380 of 545 posts

Re: google.com/goto: Google's anti-scraping update

#371

As much as I am sad that Google died like 15 years ago, I am past the mourning phase. That was when they announced they were shifting from returning websites to "returning answers" and it has been a long slide into shittification I do enjoy using their free AI. For actual web search I actually like using Yandex. It reminds me of old Google, returning reasonable results and much less "shaping results to please our cor…

anyone from Ecosia gang?

Re: google.com/goto: Google's anti-scraping update

#372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to anyway because google always gives me endless captchas, as my ISP frequently rotates IPs with people who can't behave.

That's just Google not caring about your ISP because you live in the global south. Everyone gets this. US citizens get the exact same problem but Google whitelists their networks.

Not just global south, happened all the time to me after first search page of the day until i stopped using them, northern eu.

Re: google.com/goto: Google's anti-scraping update

#373
Google wants to build up a private web here. We already know this from AMP before.

Also, the search results are total garbage now. Just give it a try and you see how useless the UI is, with AI results first, then tons of commercial go-to entries and only then a few links that are often also totally useless and irrelevant. Google optimised towards crap.

We really need to get rid of Google. Qwant results are now a bit better than before, but still not that great, and I hate that its default UI is a clone of Google. We need more alternatives. Let's get rid of Google once and for all - it has disappointed too many people now.

Re: google.com/goto: Google's anti-scraping update

#374

As much as I am sad that Google died like 15 years ago, I am past the mourning phase. That was when they announced they were shifting from returning websites to "returning answers" and it has been a long slide into shittification I do enjoy using their free AI. For actual web search I actually like using Yandex. It reminds me of old Google, returning reasonable results and much less "shaping results to please our cor…

> I do enjoy using their free AI.

So how is that AI slop garbage useful? It often lies, aka "hallucinates". And I operate within this Google-controlled auto-spammed text of lies when I use its horrible AI. The last thing I want to do is make Google even more powerful; at the least now with Google search being so crap, alternatives would be well desired, but oddly enough I also get crap results using e. g. DDG, so I think in part the whole www stack must have become more crap too, quality-wise.

I actually don't see it as there are extensions that eliminate this slop spam, but I never found it useful for anything. Other than waste my time, back when I still saw it. Thankfully I no longer see that AI slop spam due to these extensions.

Re: google.com/goto: Google's anti-scraping update

#375
post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ironic that I'd need something like that to stop getting blocked from a residential IP

It's probably cheaper to switch your ISP to one that your target site does not block, than to pay someone else to buy that connection and proxy all your traffic through them.

[deleted]

Re: google.com/goto: Google's anti-scraping update

#376

So why are we angry about that ? I mean the end result for the users are exactly the same, it matters only for bots. Google have such a (justified) bad reputation that whatever they do, people assume it’s entishification. I don’t believed it is on that matter.

For me it's annoying that I cannot right-click the link and copy the actual target. They are breaking the web.

Re: google.com/goto: Google's anti-scraping update

#378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I do enjoy using their free AI It's really not free. You're paying with your data.

People have this fixation on privacy, when there's so much more going on, potentially way mor important. Google's strong position in AI gives them bragging right to attract more companies and get them to actually pay, subsidizing your use. It also lowers competitors position as you're not touching them while we're on Gemini. It also fortifies their position in the future ad market. Being second or third in AI usage i…

It's two totally different matters.

I won't be first, second or third in the AI race. I'm not even participating in that race. I don't care who wins. However my private data are mine and I do care about them.

It's Google and those other companies that may not care about my privacy, because the AI race is more important to them.

If AI is going to cost too much, I will use a cheaper one (Ferrari or FIAT?) or if every AI will cost too much, no AI all and there will be billions of people like me.

Re: google.com/goto: Google's anti-scraping update

#380

> The url parameter uses a custom, Google-specific encoding. So that will be figured out, making the whole exercise void. Google knows this. What is the real goal here?

Imagine it being the ID of the database row holding the actual URL. There's no way to figure it out without access to that database.
Post reply on HN