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We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

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Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#421

Post by Zopieux »

fnands wrote: post #177
fg137 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Semi-seriously: I imagine we'll live to see the day when we run an adblocker that runs a small model to semantically filter out ads in Google search results

Fighting AI with AI? What a wild future.

I realistically don't see what other future there is. Either disconnect or adopt anti-grievance local AI, lest you be bombarded with ads and slop everywhere.

The first thing you install on your browser is uBlock, is it not?

Don't get me wrong, I hate this timeline, but the monster is out the box and there is no putting it back in.

Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#422

Post by nosioptar »

delecti wrote: post #244
superloika wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Block the AI overviews with extensions like https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/hide-google-ai-over... or use a userscript to do the same.

Alternatively, just change your browser's default search shortcut, and add &udm=14 to the end of the normal google search. It changes the default search results to "web" rather than "All", which removes all the extraneous crap they've added over the years. Compare https://www.google.com/search?q=test to https://www.google.com/search?q=test&udm=14

Both just give me a recaptcha. Start page doesn't:

https://www.startpage.com/sp/search?q=test

Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#423

Post by clearstack »

ablation wrote: post #2

Well, yes. I mean of course they are. They're an ad company.

makes sense from the 10-K. Search ads were $198B last year, 57% of Alphabet revenue. if AI summaries kill the click model, this is the fix — ads inside the answers

Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#424

Post by handedness »

pmdr wrote: post #349
jesse_dot_id wrote: post #330

Kagi is great.

Yes, but at $5/300 searches they're trying too hard to squeeze $10 out of you for the unlimited plan. 300 searches is ridiculous.

Have you ever looked at the browsing history of a non-technical, non-tech-addicted older person? I'm usually surprised by how little activity there typically is.

The $5 plan is great for gifting Kagi to non-tech friends and relatives who won't come close to exhausting that plan. I pay for it for older relatives I don't want to get burned by Google's decades-long unwillingness to police predatory tech support scam ads and organic listings. $54 annually for 3,600 searches is a bargain for the product they get.

I appreciate that Kagi doesn't try too hard to squeeze $10 out of people who would never need it.

Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#425

Post by com2kid »

nelblu wrote: post #15

> We’re introducing more helpful ads in AI Mode I always chuckle when ad companies say that. I have never seen a helpful ad in google search, but well I have been using adblockers forever so I would not know.I am honestly curious though, for those who don't use adblockers - what percentage of ads that you see are actually helpful?

When AdWords first showed up (decades ago) they were legitimately useful at times. They were a dramatic improvement over previous ad tech that just used plain word matching to try and find "relevant" ads.

Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#426

Post by _DeadFred_ »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #327
jordigh wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An ad is never helpful because ads are designed to mislead me into buying something I didn't need or knew about before I saw the ad. If nothing else, an ad cannot impartially compare a product with the competition (and sometimes the "competition" is buying nothing at all), therefore every ad lies. If I already needed or knew about it, I didn't need the ad. If I was happy with my life without the product advertised, I…

I need a new dishwasher. I dont want to go knocking on doors until I find somewhere that sells them. Im glad they have signs, webpages, and info sheets. Promotion and discovery are important. Advertising is the spread of information. Of course some can be bad or misleading, and that is bad.

Your examples are of passive information gathering. Surveillance driven behavioral manipulation across every screen you own is a different than looking up the list of local appliance stores. I rarely see ads trying to compete on product specs. When there is information it is low value and distorted because it has huge holes from selective omissions.

Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#427

Post by Synthetic7346 »

Scroll_Swe wrote: post #329

Perfect. Ublock origin will block it on my end and the rest of the sheep will help keep it free with ads.

How would Ublock origin know what is an AI ad vs a genuine recommendation? I assume AI ads will be embedded in the response vs an frame or an element that can be blocked

Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#429

Post by madebysnacks »

delecti wrote: post #244
superloika wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Block the AI overviews with extensions like https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/hide-google-ai-over... or use a userscript to do the same.

Alternatively, just change your browser's default search shortcut, and add &udm=14 to the end of the normal google search. It changes the default search results to "web" rather than "All", which removes all the extraneous crap they've added over the years. Compare https://www.google.com/search?q=test to https://www.google.com/search?q=test&udm=14

Wow, great tip! Thank you!

Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#430

Post by charcircuit »

sedawkgrep wrote: post #62
nelblu wrote: post #15

> We’re introducing more helpful ads in AI Mode I always chuckle when ad companies say that. I have never seen a helpful ad in google search, but well I have been using adblockers forever so I would not know.I am honestly curious though, for those who don't use adblockers - what percentage of ads that you see are actually helpful?

Since when have we considered ads something helpful? Their purpose isn’t to be helpful. They're there to sell you something, and nothing more. Any semblance of helpfulness is misinterpretation and merely coincidental.

A customer buying something means that they have found something valuable. Helping people increase the total (personal) value of what they own is helpful.
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