Technology

Honestly the biggest issue is all the garbage websites using SEO to try to be at the top of the results without having actual meaningful content.

It seems like whenever I search for a problem, a bunch of websites come up with pages dedicated to that exact issue, but all of fixes are generic and don't actually help. And that whole website will be filled with pages like that, pages that claim to have solutions for specific problems but lack any content of substance. Add in paywalls to access sites, that lawsuit to have google remove the "view image button" from image results, and websites like Pinterest that require an account before you can view anything. People were relying on content from websites like reddit to get actual real answers to searches, and now reddit is looking at getting itself removed from google search as well.

I don't think it's that Google is specifically getting worse, but rather that the internet is becoming an increasingly unhelpful place where everyone is competing to sell you answers and drive clicks.

Isn't this standard enshitification?

Google started off like any new tech company years ago and they did have a superior product. Then they went public and Wall Street started expecting certain revenue numbers every quarter, growth slowed because they saturated the market, so the core product was pushed toward making money instead staying true to the original goals.

Typical stuff, really

I still say that Google should just buy reddit and then leave it alone. Reddit gets to live it's life being what it is and becomes financially self-sustaining (though not hugely profitable) because spez won't be around to chase whatever Shiny has caught his eye now. And Google gets all of reddit's data to power both it's search results and it's AI work.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

New documents revealed during the historic monopoly trial over the past week seem to lend more weight to the latter argument, and they could help explain why Google’s once dazzling search results anecdotally feel like they are getting worse for some.

Those comments are important because, as Bloomberg points out, Google was known for erecting clear barriers distancing the product side of search from the advertising wing so that the former can focus on constantly improving user experience.

Instead, he reportedly met with Raghavan and the two agreed to replace queries with a new metric measuring “groups of queries.” Still, the exchange highlights the inherent tensions that can arise between the product and advertising teams and their at times conflicting goals.

Internal Google notes of a meeting between Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook released Monday by the DOJ give an interesting insight into that relationship.

“I need monthly reports of all losses to key competitors on an ongoing basis and if anyone from search to Apple, please email me directly on every individual case.” Pichai wrote according to the recently released documents.

Diane Rulke, an organizational behavior professor at Carnegie Mellon recently told the New York Times she believed the public’s lack of access to relevant information was “unprecedented in antitrust trials.”

The original article contains 1,668 words, the summary contains 214 words. Saved 87%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

Does anyone else find Google results seem to he favoring YouTube videos as well?

I dont want a god damn 10 minute video claiming to answer my question. I want the website that has the 2 sentences that would solve my problem or question.

So it's often a bunch of ads, then videos, then blog spam none of which quickly or properly address things.

What about a search engine only for small sites and forums and the like?

I wonder how much data you need to harvest to make a search engine for just ordinary things, and not ad-related or news related (because you have to scrape often).

I mean a global (decebtralized like you do 'a' something sites, you do 'b' etc) attempt could make some sort of AI blob or just condensed data that everyone could use and let be used.

Torah I'm not at all high on this decentralized thing :-)

Google search has been unusable for a couple years now. I'm using DDG which isn't as good as Google used to be, but it's still better than the dumpster fire it is now.

I've even considered paying for Kagi but the idea of logging in and having my searches non-anonymous bugs the shit out of me.