5 ms·

Here's a question, and I don't mean this in a snarky way at all. It's a genuine question. With all these smart people, why has the experience of google search

Here's a question, and I don't mean this in a snarky way at all. It's a genuine question. With all these smart people, why has the experience of google search not improved substantially over the last 10 years? Sure, there's more little geegaws in search now, but the experience of finding what I want hasn't gotten any easier.

brown9-2 17y ago
I would assume that for most people, the experience of search is easy and is working well. Otherwise I don't think it would continue to be #1. It sounds like you might be outside the norm.
- waterlesscloud 17y ago
  The fact that they're #1 just means they're the best of the available options. It doesn't mean the experience is great, just better than what else is out there.
  - brown9-2 17y ago
    Then what is stopping someone from designing a better experience?
    - moultano 17y ago
      It's hard?
nostrademons 17y ago
What are some of the tasks you've had a bad experience with? I work in Google Search, and we actively try to identify areas that people are having difficulty with and then come up with ways to make their search experience better. Unfortunately, most of the low-hanging fruit has already been picked. If we knew precisely where the pain points were, we'd be much better able to solve them.
- waterlesscloud 17y ago
  Would you mind if I followed up with you later on that? I'd like to organize my thoughts on how it could be better for me. I was thinking I could email you at the address in your profile, but when I think about it, it might be more productive to post a Ask HN here once I have a better explanation of what I mean. Then the whole community could participate, which seems like it would be constructive.
  - nostrademons 17y ago
    Sure, go for it, and I think an Ask HN would be appropriate as long as it's kept constructive and doesn't devolve into a bitchfest of complaining. I have faith in the HN community. :-) Also, to be clear, I'm speaking in an unofficial capacity here, as myself. I'm quite curious what people's frustrations are, but I can't promise anything.
- codexon 17y ago
  I think one of the biggest problems is the insane level of reliance Google now has for domain authority. It feels like a cheap cop-out for controlling spam: the side effect is that you have heavy hitters like Maholo, Target, etc... all out spamming the more relevant websites. A more general example of this algorithm problem is that it ranks the pages of Digg, HN, or similar to be higher than the actual website it links to, and most of the times those pages are devoid of any actual content, merely containing a couple of votes and no comments.
- spitfire 17y ago
  webspam. Search for 1935 buick and get back dozens of sites that have "OEM fuel injectors for your 1935 buick" or "OEM stereo for your 1935 buick", etc, etc. Google has let their core brand go bad.
  - nostrademons 17y ago
    When I just searched for [1935 buick], the results looked pretty good. The first hit was for the Old Car Manual Project, the second was for HowStuffWorks, the third was "1935 Buick Series 40 Images, Information, and History". I didn't see any OEM links. When you do find a lot of spam, does Show Options -> Fewer Shopping Sites help?
btilly 17y ago
Improvement is in the eye of the beholder. My personal experience of search got a lot better when they started suppressing mirrored content. For me to go back to what they had 10 years ago would be painful. Another improvement that I like is the ability to use search to find stuff on a particular site. What change would make it better for you?
ShardPhoenix 17y ago
The search results have significantly improved over the years in some areas.

brown9-2 17y ago

I would assume that for most people, the experience of search is easy and is working well. Otherwise I don't think it would continue to be #1. It sounds like you might be outside the norm.

waterlesscloud 17y ago
The fact that they're #1 just means they're the best of the available options. It doesn't mean the experience is great, just better than what else is out there.
- brown9-2 17y ago
  Then what is stopping someone from designing a better experience?
  - moultano 17y ago
    It's hard?

nostrademons 17y ago

What are some of the tasks you've had a bad experience with? I work in Google Search, and we actively try to identify areas that people are having difficulty with and then come up with ways to make their search experience better. Unfortunately, most of the low-hanging fruit has already been picked. If we knew precisely where the pain points were, we'd be much better able to solve them.

waterlesscloud 17y ago
Would you mind if I followed up with you later on that? I'd like to organize my thoughts on how it could be better for me. I was thinking I could email you at the address in your profile, but when I think about it, it might be more productive to post a Ask HN here once I have a better explanation of what I mean. Then the whole community could participate, which seems like it would be constructive.
- nostrademons 17y ago
  Sure, go for it, and I think an Ask HN would be appropriate as long as it's kept constructive and doesn't devolve into a bitchfest of complaining. I have faith in the HN community. :-) Also, to be clear, I'm speaking in an unofficial capacity here, as myself. I'm quite curious what people's frustrations are, but I can't promise anything.
codexon 17y ago
I think one of the biggest problems is the insane level of reliance Google now has for domain authority. It feels like a cheap cop-out for controlling spam: the side effect is that you have heavy hitters like Maholo, Target, etc... all out spamming the more relevant websites. A more general example of this algorithm problem is that it ranks the pages of Digg, HN, or similar to be higher than the actual website it links to, and most of the times those pages are devoid of any actual content, merely containing a couple of votes and no comments.
spitfire 17y ago
webspam. Search for 1935 buick and get back dozens of sites that have "OEM fuel injectors for your 1935 buick" or "OEM stereo for your 1935 buick", etc, etc. Google has let their core brand go bad.
- nostrademons 17y ago
  When I just searched for [1935 buick], the results looked pretty good. The first hit was for the Old Car Manual Project, the second was for HowStuffWorks, the third was "1935 Buick Series 40 Images, Information, and History". I didn't see any OEM links. When you do find a lot of spam, does Show Options -> Fewer Shopping Sites help?

btilly 17y ago

Improvement is in the eye of the beholder. My personal experience of search got a lot better when they started suppressing mirrored content. For me to go back to what they had 10 years ago would be painful. Another improvement that I like is the ability to use search to find stuff on a particular site. What change would make it better for you?

ShardPhoenix 17y ago

The search results have significantly improved over the years in some areas.