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Why has examine.com disappeared from search results?

examine.com

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Re: Why has examine.com disappeared from search results?

#71
post #69
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So... Google is openly editorialising their results? They were already doing it with the carousel (google "american inventors") but if they are doing it with what seemingly is the list of organic results this is very, very troubling.

I mean, Google always was, even in the PageRank days. Even if you can perfectly recreate the numbers as to why so and so site is ranked higher in your system, its still your system choosing to rank so and so site higher.

I see your point, but in this case they are blacklisting domains by hand because of their content, which they don't agree with. And that is very bad. Maybe it was my mistake, thinking that their organic search was holy, which no longer is the case it seems.

Re: Why has examine.com disappeared from search results?

#72
post #21

There's a very cynical part of me that is considering whether this might be a planned action by Google to cycle the FP, and try to get the "disappeared" sites to pay Google for pay-per-click advertising. I wish that was completely unbelievable, but Google has proven to be entirely focused on profit when it comes to monetizing search; and of course intentionally starving sites from getting hits/leads/conversions seems…

I've wondered a bit about that when Google blocks companies from emailing their customers for free because its "spam", but readily accepts money to show them ads.

Re: Why has examine.com disappeared from search results?

#73
post #20

I was going to say that "examine.com is one of the best sites on the internet for information about supplements/nutrition". But it's not. It's the best site on the internet for that sort of thing. It's great that Google is attempting to fix the issue of bullshit nutrition sites ranking highly, but I sincerely hope someone at Google sees this and does something to help out Examine, which is a tremendous resource.

I don't think I've come across the site before, but at first glance it doesn't look reputable at all. --I realize that looks aren't everything, but I see the following that look like red flags to me: 1. They show logs for news sources such as The New York Times, BBC, etc., but they don't actually link to those sites, let alone to articles that actually mention this site. 2. I see click-bait titles like "The top 19 nu…

The NYTimes and other news site links and the detailed bios of the medical professionals are on the about page which is very prominent in the nav

https://examine.com/about/

Almost everything you listed is pretty standard landing page web design. Its only a problem if it was actually fake, which it's not. That type of thing aways requires effort on your part. At least read the about page.

Re: Why has examine.com disappeared from search results?

#74
post #20

I was going to say that "examine.com is one of the best sites on the internet for information about supplements/nutrition". But it's not. It's the best site on the internet for that sort of thing. It's great that Google is attempting to fix the issue of bullshit nutrition sites ranking highly, but I sincerely hope someone at Google sees this and does something to help out Examine, which is a tremendous resource.

I don't think I've come across the site before, but at first glance it doesn't look reputable at all. --I realize that looks aren't everything, but I see the following that look like red flags to me: 1. They show logs for news sources such as The New York Times, BBC, etc., but they don't actually link to those sites, let alone to articles that actually mention this site. 2. I see click-bait titles like "The top 19 nu…

Maybe take a cursory look at any of the pages for any food/supplement? It quickly shows the breadth and depth of research that they've gathered. It's the only site I know with this kind of dedication to scientific evidence.

Re: Why has examine.com disappeared from search results?

#75
post #71
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, Google always was, even in the PageRank days. Even if you can perfectly recreate the numbers as to why so and so site is ranked higher in your system, its still your system choosing to rank so and so site higher.

I see your point, but in this case they are blacklisting domains by hand because of their content, which they don't agree with. And that is very bad. Maybe it was my mistake, thinking that their organic search was holy, which no longer is the case it seems.

I dont understand this point of view. Googles literal mission since inception was to rank results based on how good google thought they were. Their purpose is to editorialize results through the order they appear. Quality is defined buy googles subjectivity.

Where did the idea of google neutrality come from? Google would be useless if they didnt blacklist what they perceive to be spam.

Re: Why has examine.com disappeared from search results?

#76
post #20

I was going to say that "examine.com is one of the best sites on the internet for information about supplements/nutrition". But it's not. It's the best site on the internet for that sort of thing. It's great that Google is attempting to fix the issue of bullshit nutrition sites ranking highly, but I sincerely hope someone at Google sees this and does something to help out Examine, which is a tremendous resource.

Do you buy their guides or use it to individually research compounds? It doesn't appear to be much different than other health websites, except they sell guides, which may change the incentive structure away from marketing and towards research.

It's in a different class. It's a top notch resource. Carefully researched and thorough. Collates academic papers for each supplement and provides overviews of effectiveness for various medical purposes. It also contains extensive technical discussions of their mechanism of action. It is very easy to see that it's not a scam site.

Re: Why has examine.com disappeared from search results?

#77

I've noticed that Google search results prioritize reputation above search matching. If you search for something, even if there's a blog out there with the exact thing your searching for, it won't show up, even in the top 100 search results, unless the site has a high enough page rank/ or some other generic metric google is looking for. This is unfortunate because there's a lot of great information out there that nev…

i think all of us should start promoting alternative search engines. Google has indeed become impenetrable , and gamed by seos , and with amp they are becoming outright evil. Does DDG offer website search box?

Re: Why has examine.com disappeared from search results?

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think I've come across the site before, but at first glance it doesn't look reputable at all. --I realize that looks aren't everything, but I see the following that look like red flags to me: 1. They show logs for news sources such as The New York Times, BBC, etc., but they don't actually link to those sites, let alone to articles that actually mention this site. 2. I see click-bait titles like "The top 19 nu…

>3. Reviews by "professionals" that I can't easily verify. "Mike Hart, MD" is an example. Who is he? How do I know he's a real person? If he is a real person and a real doctor, how do I know he actually recommended this site? One of the reviews by professionals is John Berardi of Precision Nutrition if you're into nutritional research and can't verify him. Then, in my opinion, this site is not for you. You'll need so…

The question is twofold: 1) why should I trust him, and 2) assuming I trust him, how do I know he actually recommended this site?

Now, for the first one, why should I trust him? He apparently earned a PhD, but his research credits seem to be minimal, at least in terms of what he lists on his own website. Second, he seems to be a co-founder of Precision Nutrition, which suffers from a lot of the same problems as Examine.com. Seriously, let's look at the first entries in their "Free Articles" section:

"How do you rank as a health, fitness, and nutrition coach?"

"Opening October 2019: The Brand-New Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification"

"Opening October 2019: The Precision Nutrition Level 2 Certification Master Class. "

"FREE 5-day course: Fitness and Nutrition Coaching Breakthroughs"

"How to answer the most common nutrition questions like a boss."

Click-bait and attempts to sell things.

And then there's the second part of the question - how do I know John Berardi actually recommends this site? I don't without taking the site at their word.

Re: Why has examine.com disappeared from search results?

#79
post #20

I was going to say that "examine.com is one of the best sites on the internet for information about supplements/nutrition". But it's not. It's the best site on the internet for that sort of thing. It's great that Google is attempting to fix the issue of bullshit nutrition sites ranking highly, but I sincerely hope someone at Google sees this and does something to help out Examine, which is a tremendous resource.

I don't think I've come across the site before, but at first glance it doesn't look reputable at all. --I realize that looks aren't everything, but I see the following that look like red flags to me: 1. They show logs for news sources such as The New York Times, BBC, etc., but they don't actually link to those sites, let alone to articles that actually mention this site. 2. I see click-bait titles like "The top 19 nu…

Written by: Anahad Connor, staff reporter for the NYTimes

https://www.nytimes.com/guides/year-of-living-better/how-to-...

>But for some people, there are certain supplements that can be worth taking, said Kamal Patel, a nutrition researcher and the director of Examine.com, a large and independent database of supplement research. Here are two of them.

>To learn more about which supplements you might be beneficial, take a look at the following resources from Examine.com.

Whey protein

Protein supplements

Creatine

Re: Why has examine.com disappeared from search results?

#80
post #20

I was going to say that "examine.com is one of the best sites on the internet for information about supplements/nutrition". But it's not. It's the best site on the internet for that sort of thing. It's great that Google is attempting to fix the issue of bullshit nutrition sites ranking highly, but I sincerely hope someone at Google sees this and does something to help out Examine, which is a tremendous resource.

I don't think I've come across the site before, but at first glance it doesn't look reputable at all. --I realize that looks aren't everything, but I see the following that look like red flags to me: 1. They show logs for news sources such as The New York Times, BBC, etc., but they don't actually link to those sites, let alone to articles that actually mention this site. 2. I see click-bait titles like "The top 19 nu…

Let me address these:

1. No one links to them. You are welcome to google. Eg here: https://www.nytimes.com/guides/year-of-living-better/how-to-... - you'll see their entire supplement section is from our site

2. That is our one, and it's more of a play on 2019 and 19. If you read the article, you'll see it's no-nosense.

3. How exactly do I prove someone is real?

A quick google search shows this guy: https://twitter.com/drmikehart - you are welcome to tweet at him. Or at the others.

4. We analyze information and sell that for revenue. We are a business - alas, we have no tree that grows money in our backyard.

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