HN Explorer

Ask HN: HN Search has Google Analytics enabled, can it be removed?

32 points by bookaway ↗ HN
HN Search (Algolia) has Google Analytics enabled it seems, which feels kind of deceptive considering the stripped down minimalism of the rest of site (that almost lulls you into thinking you can browse the site with js enabled).

Is it possible to have the algolia search that doesn't come with ga?

11 comments

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drocer88
Doesn't having google services enhance your search results on google? It's probably too risky to de-google.
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
fault1
Seems like it's not very risky for HN, no? How much SEO does it really require?
greenyoda
You can remove it from all sites by installing the uBlock Origin browser extension (available for Firefox or Chrome) - it blocks Google Analytics and all sorts of other third-party trackers.
bookaway
I am aware. HN is often touted to be running with a minimalist bare-bones tech stack. Found this aspect rather sad and bizarre. If you get caught out without a blocker, you could end up sending your search info to google in addition to algolia, no?
brudgers
Algolia is a YC company. [1] HN got search by outsourcing it to its engine. Before that, Google was the practical way to search HN.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7118496

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7126301

HN’s minimalism is the site itself. Part of that is not writing its own search engine…to a first approximation, its a fair bet it never would have made the top of the todo list.

[1]: Algolia was established and had raised investment prior to YC.

bookaway
>Algolia is a YC company.

As I stated, I'm not bemoaning the use of algolia here (there's at least an icon to inform the user of its use). Only that Google Analytics is being used in addition to it.

I would think in theory algolia being a YC company would make it easier to request a workaround without GA if algolia is the one using it.

>Before that, Google was the practical way to search HN.

In that case, the user would be explicitly made aware they were using google services I would think. That is not the case here.

tedmiston
What's the point in removing GA from HN specifically when you still need uBlock Origin or similar to browse the greater interwebs? GA is present on a very high percentage of popular websites.
floatingatoll
Emailing the mods using the footer Contact link will get a reply. This might not, if they don’t see it.