In my personal experience google search has gotten vastly worse in last 6 or so years. It seems like 5 paid ads then about 10 posts from sources that are just popular websites that cover the "topic" but arent really what you are looking for.
It seems like years ago I could find information consistantly from obscure websites just by using combos of words, but now I cant even get to those sites with same words or even close.
Paid scam ads like this is another reason I dont use google anymore.They obviously dont really care how bad those paid ads are.
A recent example was an obscure laser etched item, I used to just be able to put the 3 words together and bam I could find website containing it. Like very few people talked about it etc and no one was doing the same thing so it should be an easy find. Now when I search it I get tons of laser etched this or that yadda yadda but its as if its only keying on that word and ignoring the fact that not one of these top/all posts even contains the other words.
I would be curios to that as well, I currently use duckduckgo the most. I have been getting more and more used to how it searches so I have become better with it. I still don't find it as good as the old google, but I honestly cant find what im looking for easily on google anymore.
I usually am researching obscure rare things that only a few websites in the world are talking about and before I could easily find it just by using the combo of key words in google. Now in my experience forget that, it will focus on one key word and give you every huge website that has used it in some article etc.
I lack the knowledge about the algorithms etc that they use, but as far as someone who searched a lot of things and used to enjoy googles actual search engine I just personally find its moving backwards.
Sorry I couldn't be more help :) If you have any good suggestions let me know!
Oddly, the google seems to be working much better for me if I use whole sentences (How to..., Where can I...). This is really annoying.
I am using DucDuckGo as there is currently no better alternative. It is not great, but it serves its purpose. Also, you can add "!g" before any query. This will search on google instead :)
DuckDuckGo (Bing) and Startpage (Google) work fine for me 90% of the time. To keep things mixed up, my new browser tabs use Startpage, while DDG is the homepage. The !bang syntax at DDG can be especially handy, and Startpage provides a proxy for every link. Both search engines allow you to set up a personal URL, or cookie, with your custom settings (appearance/features/privacy/etc.). Simple and handy, not a giant Orwellian beast that's tracking my every move.
Like others have said, Google doesn't seem all that great these days (better flush that browser cache before searching!). The 10% of the time that the others don't provide adequate results, Google doesn't either. I've gone from instantly hopping over to Google when the alts don't provide good results, to adjusting my terms a few times before finally trying Google.
Google still works best when I want to buy something, which isn't surprising.
Removing it after it has been on the front page of HN is straightforward. We can't say how long it was there or how many users have been duped by this already. The case might be similar for other search terms.
And when I went to view your screenshot on imgur I got an ad pretending to be an Android warning message about my storage being full in order to trick me into insuring an app. Presumably that apps true purpose is to show me even more scammy ads.
Hmm I wasn't trying to make a circular argument, as just a user I see no need for that paid ad with a virus to be there in the first place, even if they take it down now why wreck your users experience from the start at all ? If you cant do business right, don't do it at all, but that's just me.
Imo if you cant serve me up non virus ridden ads GTFO, and I really enjoyed google search before so I am not bashing it because of some personal agenda, I used to find it the best search engine by far and would continued to use it if I found it worked like it used to, prolly despite virus ridden ads that I have encountered personally on the google.
Human intervention doesn't make it a circular argument, because "what Google is" has to do with algorithm and automation. You can give them the benefit of "all's well that ends well," but that consequentialism hides a chain of causality. There were a lot of steps needed to get to this point of human intervention, steps engineered and implemented by "the best of the best."
Couldn't agree more. The quality of results has dropped significantly, to where often the best results are 2 or 3 pages deep in results. I don't blame it on the ads, but something is definitely amiss in their algorithm that is allowing low quality results, outdated, or unrelated results to rank high. To me the results seem to take a drastic turn about the same time that Matt left the spam team in 2014/2015. I don't know if there is a relation or not, but just seems odd.
I wonder if the Internet is getting worse. As in the magazine/news content one used to get for free that search helped index has gotten much worse as standards have been eroded in the quest for click bait.
That's exactly while I use an adblocker, so I don't ever have to see those google ads which are rarely relevant but rather just results from people with money to spend. Where is the organic results which are on top when you have an adblocker enabled are still high quality in general, except of course certain topics like searching for skin care products or such where the results are all junk because those industries have so much money to create fake websites.
or accenture.com with ad block off.
Google searches are personalized. I think it is fair to assume there is some personalization in the AD results as well.
It leads to a page that has a bad screenshot of blockchain.info and the only button that works is the Login button. Crazy how Google didn't screen this out.
If I worked for Skrill I'd be asking my legal team to draft a C&D insisting that Google cease accepting bids on my registered trademark as a keyword. Given that they've evidently been accepting money from criminals targeting Skrill's customer base - potentially to the detriment of Skrill's reputation - I don't think Google's in a good position to say no...
Wow. I get the same ad. It's literally a phishing site where they want you to "log-in".
Insert random data. Next, it asks you to insert your date of birth. In the case of Skrill asks it when they try to rob you. And if that is not enough, eventually they send you to the real website with an affiliate link (id 16258373) !
I agree completely with your post, I have left adblockers off before since I do treat the net itself as Mos Eisley and almost just to see what sort of BS places are trying, but I may do it now just because its getting ridiculous.
As far as google ads and where they are placed I find that annoying as heck, to me its like having lag in a video game, why do I want lag every time I search something ? As someone who runs a company I would never do that to my customers, a split second of time from my customers eyes I treat as valuable and something I respect not to mention having to scroll down and chew up even more time.
I get its how they make money with ads, but my taste just finds it annoying, so its one more thing that keeps me away.
Phishers aren't really targeting those people who ensure they've always got an adblocker installed on the machine they're using and always pay enough attention to distinguish between ads and the top organic result though.
I'm not convinced Google wants to use the "we can't possibly be expected to vet everyone buying our ad inventory; if you don't want our search engine to highlight scam pages you can always block our ads altogether" defence either...
So, those scammers might be stupid to pay for something that won't work, right?
It is a top result by definition. Google, You and I know not everyone is aware of the implications of a paid ad (e.g. not so relevant for your search). I personally consider it a dark pattern to put ads there, but I guess they know better than me how to build an empire.
Honestly, I'm bewildered that the Google ad slot is worth anything. Even when I search for a commercial product, I skip the ads for the store because the ad links to a useless homepage while the organic results link deep in to the exact product.
You aren't their target audience. Think about most other, less technically savvy people in the world — they don't know any better and will often click whatever they see.
So true. I've got a humbling anecdote to emphasize this point...
Had a non-tech friend ask me to put some music on his iPhone. I didn't have iTunes installed, so that was step one. I had Windows and IE running because I had been testing something, so I just hopped on Google and clicked on the top link for iTunes. All the while, I was lecturing my friend about how filthy the internet is, and how you have to be constantly vigilant. Yeah, and to prove it, my machine instantly filled with malware when I hit the iTunes executable.
The top link on Google for iTunes, one of the most downloaded pieces of software in existence, was a paid ad that installed a truckload of nasty malware. I walked right into the trap because I was accustomed to using ad blockers.
It used to be that when people had a machine full of malware, they'd been up to something fishy, like downloading free porn. These days, all it takes is a Google search for their favorite product.
this is an interesting head scratcher from the third episode of the third season of silicon valley
in it the ceo of hooli, a standin for all sv bigcorps, complains that hooli search's first result for his name is bad press on him
he says he wants his engineers to change it to good press
they respond, 'are you asking us to modify the underlying algorithm? that would be unethical'
the ceo agrees, 'that would be unethical, and that is why i would never ask any hooli engineer to compromise the integrity of our underlying algorithm'
and then goes and asks another division to 'exploit' the algorithm by creating a swarm of referral links to positive press on him
what's interesting here is this requirement to retain the integrity of the algorithm completely ignores the fact that the algorithm is itself flawed and easily exploited
a similar problem to google search is youtube's current issues with dmca
46 comments
[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 122 ms ] threadIt seems like years ago I could find information consistantly from obscure websites just by using combos of words, but now I cant even get to those sites with same words or even close.
Paid scam ads like this is another reason I dont use google anymore.They obviously dont really care how bad those paid ads are.
What are the alternatives? I am trying that too but can't find s...t using duckduckgo and the gang.
Google doesn't seem able to find anything any more.
Just seems to pick from a few bigger sites with word hits, then order those results by the other words.
Used to be you could put a + in front of the word you are actually interested in and have a better chance.
But now that only searches google plus pages it always turns up nothing.
I usually am researching obscure rare things that only a few websites in the world are talking about and before I could easily find it just by using the combo of key words in google. Now in my experience forget that, it will focus on one key word and give you every huge website that has used it in some article etc.
I lack the knowledge about the algorithms etc that they use, but as far as someone who searched a lot of things and used to enjoy googles actual search engine I just personally find its moving backwards.
Sorry I couldn't be more help :) If you have any good suggestions let me know!
I am using DucDuckGo as there is currently no better alternative. It is not great, but it serves its purpose. Also, you can add "!g" before any query. This will search on google instead :)
Like others have said, Google doesn't seem all that great these days (better flush that browser cache before searching!). The 10% of the time that the others don't provide adequate results, Google doesn't either. I've gone from instantly hopping over to Google when the alts don't provide good results, to adjusting my terms a few times before finally trying Google.
Google still works best when I want to buy something, which isn't surprising.
They've already removed it, so your little circular argument doesn't work anymore. Nice try though.
Speaking for others intent, even corporations, using conflicting statements doesn't make anything better - it makes things worse.
Removing it after it has been on the front page of HN is straightforward. We can't say how long it was there or how many users have been duped by this already. The case might be similar for other search terms.
http://m.imgur.com/pePHo0E
Imo if you cant serve me up non virus ridden ads GTFO, and I really enjoyed google search before so I am not bashing it because of some personal agenda, I used to find it the best search engine by far and would continued to use it if I found it worked like it used to, prolly despite virus ridden ads that I have encountered personally on the google.
google also seemed to be using my previous searches as a factor which made results much worse, because I google a lot.
or accenture.com with ad block off. Google searches are personalized. I think it is fair to assume there is some personalization in the AD results as well.
Google's ad report page: https://support.google.com/adwords/troubleshooter/4578507
http://imgur.com/f9FpJXy
Insert random data. Next, it asks you to insert your date of birth. In the case of Skrill asks it when they try to rob you. And if that is not enough, eventually they send you to the real website with an affiliate link (id 16258373) !
If you want to avoid ads, install uBlock Origin (https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock). I'm shocked people who visit this site don't already do so.
As far as google ads and where they are placed I find that annoying as heck, to me its like having lag in a video game, why do I want lag every time I search something ? As someone who runs a company I would never do that to my customers, a split second of time from my customers eyes I treat as valuable and something I respect not to mention having to scroll down and chew up even more time.
I get its how they make money with ads, but my taste just finds it annoying, so its one more thing that keeps me away.
I'm not convinced Google wants to use the "we can't possibly be expected to vet everyone buying our ad inventory; if you don't want our search engine to highlight scam pages you can always block our ads altogether" defence either...
It is a top result by definition. Google, You and I know not everyone is aware of the implications of a paid ad (e.g. not so relevant for your search). I personally consider it a dark pattern to put ads there, but I guess they know better than me how to build an empire.
It protects from scams and viruses also.
Had a non-tech friend ask me to put some music on his iPhone. I didn't have iTunes installed, so that was step one. I had Windows and IE running because I had been testing something, so I just hopped on Google and clicked on the top link for iTunes. All the while, I was lecturing my friend about how filthy the internet is, and how you have to be constantly vigilant. Yeah, and to prove it, my machine instantly filled with malware when I hit the iTunes executable.
The top link on Google for iTunes, one of the most downloaded pieces of software in existence, was a paid ad that installed a truckload of nasty malware. I walked right into the trap because I was accustomed to using ad blockers.
It used to be that when people had a machine full of malware, they'd been up to something fishy, like downloading free porn. These days, all it takes is a Google search for their favorite product.
in it the ceo of hooli, a standin for all sv bigcorps, complains that hooli search's first result for his name is bad press on him
he says he wants his engineers to change it to good press
they respond, 'are you asking us to modify the underlying algorithm? that would be unethical'
the ceo agrees, 'that would be unethical, and that is why i would never ask any hooli engineer to compromise the integrity of our underlying algorithm'
and then goes and asks another division to 'exploit' the algorithm by creating a swarm of referral links to positive press on him
what's interesting here is this requirement to retain the integrity of the algorithm completely ignores the fact that the algorithm is itself flawed and easily exploited
a similar problem to google search is youtube's current issues with dmca