I wonder what this does to all the people that type even known URLs into Google instead of the location bar to go to that URL. You know, people like my parents.
Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image
461–470 of 740 posts
Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image
#462Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or give you results that are completely unrelated and even try to convince you that what you’re trying to search doesn’t exist. Studied with a guy from old Soviet Union, they were educated in a way that every modern invention had a Soviet inventor. ChatGPT can create an individualized reality and truth for everyone depending on which advertiser’s target demographic they fit in.
Like how americans are convinced they invented the telephone because the patent office said so?
And by the downvotes it seems they also get really touchy if it's pointed out…
Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image
#463That's not my experience at all: https://i.imgur.com/JXAJMNh.png Searching for Midjourney finds Midjourney with direct links to sections of their website. uBlock Origin blocks ads. All is well.
They seem to classify users in a way that puts technically-proficient users in a separate class to regular users.
One class receives a more traditional experience.
The other receives whatever they're currently pushing. For example, my Dad's Gmail has a much higher "ad email" : "real email" ratio than mine. Also, the styling of an "ad email" line is far more subtle than what I receive.
I checked with my technical friends. They all receive similar experiences to what I do. But my parents and other people I help with their personal tech receive the ad-heavy version.
My conspiracy theory is that they're trying to detect journalists, lawmakers, regulators, and more, in an attempt to avoid being forced to push ads less aggressively.
Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image
#464They do the same thing on the Play Store, for example I just searched for Firefox and the first result is a sponsored spot for Opera. Does Apple do that on the App Store? A funnier example: searching for Amazon gives Temu as the first result. Searching for Temu gives Shein as the first result. Searching for Shein gives Shein as the first result! ...but only because they outbid everyone else for the ad spot on their o…
Same thing happened to me. I wanted to get "Fit Notes" - a free and ad-free app. I searched for it and the first result is some adware/subscription-based crap. I skip over. I scroll down part the "Sponsored: Related to your search" section with a whole bunch of others. I am still seeing more paid/in-app-purchase/subscription-based apps. At this point I thought that the app didn't exist for newer versions of Android.…
In A/B tests the lack of clarity probably helped increase ad clicks. The metric they care about went up.
It’s why ads in gmail look increasingly like normal messages.
Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image
#465youtube is worse. it usually gives you three matches, than some completely random sh** that does not match a single keyword you typed in.
Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image
#466Look up "Hacker News". Some days this site isn't even on the front page.
Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image
#467They do the same thing on the Play Store, for example I just searched for Firefox and the first result is a sponsored spot for Opera. Does Apple do that on the App Store? A funnier example: searching for Amazon gives Temu as the first result. Searching for Temu gives Shein as the first result. Searching for Shein gives Shein as the first result! ...but only because they outbid everyone else for the ad spot on their o…
Learned that App Store does this too during a recent MFA rollout. What really surprised me was that when instructed to install Google Authenticator, a significant portion of people (I'd estimate close to 50%) would search the exact name and then proceed to reach to install the sponsored top result with a completely different name until I stopped them.
Absolutely this. It is so disappointing that the big tech companies provide ANOTHER opportunity for less-skilled users to make a mistake.
And a mistake that might hurt them with security and certainly cost and functionality.
And in a core, security-sensitive function like "what third party apps should I have on my personal device?" This is not searching for fun memes on Reddit!
Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image
#468They do the same thing on the Play Store, for example I just searched for Firefox and the first result is a sponsored spot for Opera. Does Apple do that on the App Store? A funnier example: searching for Amazon gives Temu as the first result. Searching for Temu gives Shein as the first result. Searching for Shein gives Shein as the first result! ...but only because they outbid everyone else for the ad spot on their o…
Apple is even worse. Try searching for Grok in the app store and it will be almost impossible to find due to some deal they have with OpenAI.
Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image
#469A similar thing happens when you search “Canada eTA” — a $7 (required) entry visa the government typically issues instantly. But on Google, several sponsored sites appear above the gov site, and charge $100+ for the same service but slower, and they do god knows what with your passport details and personal data.
There are tons of other examples like this. It’s very easy to get tricked by Google ads if you aren’t suspecting a scam.
Re: Everything that's wrong with Google Search in one image
#470Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is Kagi for non-US folks? I've tried switching to DDG a while back but the experience for me, living outside the US, was not great. Sure, programming related searches were pretty good, but everything else was not. Does Kagi have a better localized experience?
I find Kagi pretty good - I'm UK based. I upgraded my phone a few days back and when search defaulted back to Google I realised how worthwhile my subscription is. It's not all perfect, for instance I would love to figure out how to stop all map searches sticking with them: sorry Google is just lightyears ahead there so I'd always prefer that. But generally they're about the right amount of customisability. The killer…
Yeah I’ve just set any search starting with !m to redirect to google maps. It’s in the custom search settings somewhere.
I also find Kagi good in the UK - it wasn’t amazing when I first subscribed but got a lot better quite fast. I do occasionally add “uk” to a search when shopping but I did that on Google too.