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Google’s top search result is Google

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Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#51

Post by breakfastduck »

sidibe wrote: post #39
kevingadd wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I will get mad when those products have better alternatives but it's not the case. Build better alternatives and I'm on board." How will you find out about the better alternatives? Are you certain there aren't good alternatives to translate, maps, flights, shopping etc? For any language? I know for a fact that google translate is bad for some ideographic languages and as a result there are competing services that co…

Someone will mention better alternatives here, after all I've been hearing about how ddg blows Google out of the water a couple times every week here for years.

Ddg is acceptable but it doesn’t blow Google out of the water at all.

It’s miles ahead for me because of tracking etc, but I can’t see how anyone could think the actual search results are better

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#52

Post by dybber »

chimen wrote: post #40
kevingadd wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I will get mad when those products have better alternatives but it's not the case. Build better alternatives and I'm on board." How will you find out about the better alternatives? Are you certain there aren't good alternatives to translate, maps, flights, shopping etc? For any language? I know for a fact that google translate is bad for some ideographic languages and as a result there are competing services that co…

I am constantly trying new things. I just ditched duckduck go for the third time. I'm using firefox since 2 months. I am aware of alternatives. I WANT to ditch Google too but I get value from it atm that I cannot find elsewhere.

How would you bootstrap such a company?

The solution as I see it is to forcefully break-up Google, such that these services can have their run as independent companies (Maps, flight search, product price comparison, etc.). This has been done before with big companies (e.g. break of Bell Systems into 7 companies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakup_of_the_Bell_System)

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#53

Post by asfasfasf12 »

chimen wrote: post #23

Many of them save me extra clicks which is convenient. Google translate, maps and search has no competitors that even come close in terms of quality. I will get mad when those products have better alternatives but it's not the case. Build better alternatives and I'm on board. In the end, Google is a business - I would promote my own shit on the first vertical as well. One thing that pisses me off is the AMP ordeal bu…

DeepL is better than google translate.

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#54

Post by leetcrew »

kevingadd wrote: post #31
chimen wrote: post #23

Many of them save me extra clicks which is convenient. Google translate, maps and search has no competitors that even come close in terms of quality. I will get mad when those products have better alternatives but it's not the case. Build better alternatives and I'm on board. In the end, Google is a business - I would promote my own shit on the first vertical as well. One thing that pisses me off is the AMP ordeal bu…

"I will get mad when those products have better alternatives but it's not the case. Build better alternatives and I'm on board." How will you find out about the better alternatives? Are you certain there aren't good alternatives to translate, maps, flights, shopping etc? For any language? I know for a fact that google translate is bad for some ideographic languages and as a result there are competing services that co…

I think you're overselling your point here. if I search "maps" in google, the google product is the first hit, but several major alternatives are right under it on the first page of results. FWIW, DeepL is also on the first page for "translate".

I don't actually want to discover new products by finding their homepages in my search results. when I am looking for something new, I want to read a review in a publication I trust or at least a discussion among real humans in a forum.

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#55

Post by mrkramer »

martinskou wrote: post #6

Search is essential infrastructure for the internet and should not be monopolized. It should be free, uncluttered, distributed and transparent. The problem is not Google, its the lack of good alternatives, only DDG really.

Alternatives don't matter when distribution channels are controlled and locked in. Google controls 70% browser market share on PC(https://tinyurl.com/yxwjwnv7) and 64% mobile browser market share(https://tinyurl.com/y4uufb9d). But I think Google's problem is not dominant market position but slow pace of service quality improvement. Searching on Google 10 years ago and today feels way too similar and not much improved in terms of quality and UX.

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#56

Post by ocdtrekkie »

jfoster wrote: post #28
_8j50 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I wouldn't do the same. Maximize profits? Yes, sacrifice core values and even social stability to acheive the goal? Nope. Be deceptive, do things against people's will? Nope.

Can you mention the worst or most deceptive thing they've done?

Larry and Sergey said from the very beginning we needed a search engine in the academic realm because ads present an inherent conflict of interest.

It's right here! http://infolab.stanford.edu/~backrub/google.html This was who they were and what they believed! Check out Appendix A, it's entirely about the mixed motivation of funding a search engine with ads.

Yet not only did they make an ad company that has a search engine, they increasingly made their ads less distinguishable from organic results over time. Big highlighted yellow boxes have become search results with a tiny Ad marker hidden in the paragraph. Because deceiving people into clicking on ads is more profitable than getting them to the best organic result.

When DoubleClick was bought they promised they'd keep the data separate to get the acquisition approved. Once it happened, they merged the data. Now they're saying the same about your Fitbit data...

Yes, the entire concept of Google is against Larry and Sergey's original paper on the matter. They sold out, and college Larry and Sergey would be ashamed of their present day counterparts.

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#57

Post by matsemann »

chimen wrote: post #23

Many of them save me extra clicks which is convenient. Google translate, maps and search has no competitors that even come close in terms of quality. I will get mad when those products have better alternatives but it's not the case. Build better alternatives and I'm on board. In the end, Google is a business - I would promote my own shit on the first vertical as well. One thing that pisses me off is the AMP ordeal bu…

How would a better alternative surface?

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#58

Post by vlkr »

Havoc wrote: post #10

Tricky. It does feel anti-competitive but at the same time their info is usually also the best. So a strong argument can be made that it’s 1 based on merit

You don't know if it's the best because there is no competition to discover better info. All other websites are presented with only 2 or 3 lines of text (search results) and have no free access to presentation forms that googles own content has.

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#59

Post by chimen »

asfasfasf12 wrote: post #53
chimen wrote: post #23

Many of them save me extra clicks which is convenient. Google translate, maps and search has no competitors that even come close in terms of quality. I will get mad when those products have better alternatives but it's not the case. Build better alternatives and I'm on board. In the end, Google is a business - I would promote my own shit on the first vertical as well. One thing that pisses me off is the AMP ordeal bu…

DeepL is better than google translate.

Just tested and tried translating English to romanian (my language) - doesn't exist :)

Re: Google’s top search result is Google

#60

Post by xwdv »

chimen wrote: post #23

Many of them save me extra clicks which is convenient. Google translate, maps and search has no competitors that even come close in terms of quality. I will get mad when those products have better alternatives but it's not the case. Build better alternatives and I'm on board. In the end, Google is a business - I would promote my own shit on the first vertical as well. One thing that pisses me off is the AMP ordeal bu…

Some would say maybe the little startups should have a chance.
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