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Google is burying the web alive

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Re: Google is burying the web alive

#61

Post by nicbou »

boplicity wrote: post #54
nicbou wrote: post #46

I can weigh in on this. I run a small information website ( https://allaboutberlin.com ). My traffic has been growing steadily for 7 years, but now its down 30-ish percent year on year. From what I'm hearing, my competitors (and friends) are having it worse. My main mission is to put new information on the internet. It's harder to do this if AI destroys the economics of it. It's also harder without an audience who pr…

> My main mission is to put new information on the internet. It's harder to do this if AI destroys the economics of it. It's also harder without an audience who provides feedback and encouragement. I also run an online website that provides valuable information. However, we have a very different philosophy. The mission is very not not to "put new information on the internet." Rather, it is to provide a valuable and m…

The problem is that there is no audience without a third-party platform nowadays. At least not at a scale.

Google was the lesser evil, but I still fully expected to get killed by an algorithm update some day.

I vowed to ride this website into the ground if I have to. I believe in its value, even if I need a side job to support it.

Re: Google is burying the web alive

#62

Post by ninth_ant »

mouse_ wrote: post #37
ninth_ant wrote: post #23

Implicit in this article is the idea that you have to use Google, and that Google Search equals “the web”. I’ll be the boring nerd, I guess, who has to be the one to say there are many other search engines out there. If you don’t like Google (I don’t), or don’t like where they are moving their products (I don’t) — please use a competing search engine. I’ve used DuckDuckGo for years and I don’t miss anything about Goo…

I find it extremely challenging to believe you actually think that. I can't even host my own email anymore without all of my messages getting filtered as spam, because if your email service doesn't play nice with Google, then you might as well not exist. Not to mention youtube, adsense, Android (Google is trying to kill AOSP to sink their claws more deeply into Android in light of the recent antitrust suits), Google…

For one, I didn’t say anything about email or you had to boycott Google completely. You can just change your browser to use another engine it takes like 10 seconds max. Google Search is not the web.

Second, since you brought up email —- I’ve used Fastmail for a decade and it works just fine.

> Google owns too much. They're easily on the same level as standard oil and the railroad tycoons.

I agree 100% but since regulators largely refuse to deal with it, there’s nothing stopping individual people like you or me to make our own decisions. You literally just have to click a few buttons if you’re unhappy with the service Google Search is providing.

Re: Google is burying the web alive

#63

Post by remyp »

TonyTrapp wrote: post #26
ninth_ant wrote: post #23

Implicit in this article is the idea that you have to use Google, and that Google Search equals “the web”. I’ll be the boring nerd, I guess, who has to be the one to say there are many other search engines out there. If you don’t like Google (I don’t), or don’t like where they are moving their products (I don’t) — please use a competing search engine. I’ve used DuckDuckGo for years and I don’t miss anything about Goo…

When "to google" has literally become a verb in several languages, you know it's not going to be that easy to convince literally hundreds of millions of people to use something different. For many unsavvy people, Google is and continues to be their window into the web, and they wouldn't even know they can have it another way.

People said this about AOL for a long time, too.

Re: Google is burying the web alive

#64

Post by ninth_ant »

bamboozled wrote: post #47
ninth_ant wrote: post #23

Implicit in this article is the idea that you have to use Google, and that Google Search equals “the web”. I’ll be the boring nerd, I guess, who has to be the one to say there are many other search engines out there. If you don’t like Google (I don’t), or don’t like where they are moving their products (I don’t) — please use a competing search engine. I’ve used DuckDuckGo for years and I don’t miss anything about Goo…

I used DuckDuckGo for 3 years, the only thing I found it useful for was the g! bang, in my opinion it wasn’t a good search engine.

If Google Search gives you the experience you want, you should probably keep using it. I was discussing options for people who are dissatisfied with their product or product direction.

Re: Google is burying the web alive

#65

Post by ninth_ant »

TonyTrapp wrote: post #26
ninth_ant wrote: post #23

Implicit in this article is the idea that you have to use Google, and that Google Search equals “the web”. I’ll be the boring nerd, I guess, who has to be the one to say there are many other search engines out there. If you don’t like Google (I don’t), or don’t like where they are moving their products (I don’t) — please use a competing search engine. I’ve used DuckDuckGo for years and I don’t miss anything about Goo…

When "to google" has literally become a verb in several languages, you know it's not going to be that easy to convince literally hundreds of millions of people to use something different. For many unsavvy people, Google is and continues to be their window into the web, and they wouldn't even know they can have it another way.

You don’t have to convince hundreds of millions of people to use something different, you can just use something different.

Re: Google is burying the web alive

#66

Post by entropie »

bamboozled wrote: post #47
ninth_ant wrote: post #23

Implicit in this article is the idea that you have to use Google, and that Google Search equals “the web”. I’ll be the boring nerd, I guess, who has to be the one to say there are many other search engines out there. If you don’t like Google (I don’t), or don’t like where they are moving their products (I don’t) — please use a competing search engine. I’ve used DuckDuckGo for years and I don’t miss anything about Goo…

I used DuckDuckGo for 3 years, the only thing I found it useful for was the g! bang, in my opinion it wasn’t a good search engine.

What do you use now?

I switched to kagi like half a year ago and it does the job but iam still unsure if I want to pay the 20 bucks for that service.

Re: Google is burying the web alive

#67

Post by Magi604 »

I used to hate the AI overview, but I've slowly been getting used to it and now I will often settle for what the AI gives. It's better than scrolling through loads of links and trying to weed out garbage SEO optimized sites.

Re: Google is burying the web alive

#68

Post by kevingadd »

bilater wrote: post #40

So if Google innovates with AI, it's a problem because they're hiding their "ten blue links." But if they don't, they're suffering from the innovator's dilemma and are going to die with their ten blue links. The fact is, Google is so big that they're always going to upset some people. Embracing AI and moving forward is the only thing they can do.

Why is it a foregone conclusion that embracing AI is the only way to move forward, and that embracing AI is necessary to succeed?

I'm certainly curious to see how it works out - it's a possible source of growth etc - but it's weird to me seeing people just assume that AI is not only The Future but is The Only Future.

Re: Google is burying the web alive

#69

Post by ndiddy »

ajross wrote: post #19
ncr100 wrote: post #2

My summary - G is 'burying' web search results underneath AI results on its search page.

Pretty much. This is getting toward a "derangement syndrome" kind of behavior, IMHO. When Microsoft and subsidiaries deploy AI-enhanced search results, it's a "Google Killer" and rockets to the top of the front page of HN to great fanfare. When it turns out that the best and most-used AI-enhanced search results are served at the Google search prompt, Google is "burying the web alive" and the outrage rockets to the fr…

You fell for the Goomba Fallacy https://i.redd.it/33w3fqrnx8pd1.jpeg
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