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I feel like I find fewer interesting (or odd) little websites these days through Google..Either they no longer exist, or Google ignores them. It is strange and

I feel like I find fewer interesting (or odd) little websites these days through Google..Either they no longer exist, or Google ignores them. It is strange and disheartening.

metildaa 8y ago
Google is ignoring these sites, using Bing, Qwant or DuckDuckGo works much better for queries where uour looking for that obscure site thst is a treasure trove of info. Part # are another area where Google Search has notably gotten worse over the past half decade. I've emailed multiple Googlers who claim to want to fix these crap results, but I have yet to have one bother to respond (despite them replying to my comments asking me to contact them!)
- Semaphor 8y ago
  Obscure searches is what I use "!g" for. DDG is horrible with them, especially with the change of ignoring forced terms.
  - metildaa 8y ago
    Ah, its been a while since I tried forced terms on DDG. Been using Qwant for a while now...
    - SubiculumCode 8y ago
      I haven't heard of that. Any good?
      - metildaa 8y ago
        Its sufficent to keep me off Google, which neither DDG or Bing could ever achieve. I do occasionally get imposter syndrome, and search something on Google too, but the results are generally more accurate on Qwant (for me at least). Where Google kills it is built-in currency conversion, wikipedia previews and such.
        Semaphor 8y ago
        > Where Google kills it is built-in currency conversion, wikipedia previews and such. So, all those things that DDG has as well? ;) And I tried Qwant, but didn't like it and after a short return to Google (which was very short because I've become too used to bangs) I swallowed my annoyance and went back to DDG.
sharcerer 8y ago
May I know what you mean by interesting little websites? I am a student, and for the past 1 year the Google Feed in the Google app/ Chrome Browser has recommended by really good blogs of individual people/websites related to my topics of interest like ML, Vision,AI. I wouldn't have discovered many of these websites on my own or would have when it would be too late. Some of the recommendations have really delighted me from time to time.
rchaud 8y ago
You're not alone. Over the past few years it feels like I have been getting my content "fed" to me via Reddit, FB, IG, etc, when a decade ago I'd always be finding cool new sites via my own Google searches and through a small list of RSS feeds. I think what's happened is that the biggest sites figured out what it takes to rank on Page 1, be it keyword-stuffing blog posts or whatever. The "interesting" sites I liked didn't update as much, so they fell down the rankings. It's extremely apparent when a site is SEO-optimized, and for me that turns me off, especially if the area is a niche topic and not well served. If it's something like a reliable way to unclog a toilet, I'm not picky, the most popular search result is probably the one I'm looking for!

I feel like I find fewer interesting (or odd) little websites these days through Google..Either they no longer exist, or Google ignores them. It is strange and disheartening.

metildaa 8y ago

Google is ignoring these sites, using Bing, Qwant or DuckDuckGo works much better for queries where uour looking for that obscure site thst is a treasure trove of info. Part # are another area where Google Search has notably gotten worse over the past half decade. I've emailed multiple Googlers who claim to want to fix these crap results, but I have yet to have one bother to respond (despite them replying to my comments asking me to contact them!)

Semaphor 8y ago
Obscure searches is what I use "!g" for. DDG is horrible with them, especially with the change of ignoring forced terms.
- metildaa 8y ago
  Ah, its been a while since I tried forced terms on DDG. Been using Qwant for a while now...
  - SubiculumCode 8y ago
    I haven't heard of that. Any good?
    - metildaa 8y ago
      Its sufficent to keep me off Google, which neither DDG or Bing could ever achieve. I do occasionally get imposter syndrome, and search something on Google too, but the results are generally more accurate on Qwant (for me at least). Where Google kills it is built-in currency conversion, wikipedia previews and such.
      - Semaphor 8y ago
        > Where Google kills it is built-in currency conversion, wikipedia previews and such. So, all those things that DDG has as well? ;) And I tried Qwant, but didn't like it and after a short return to Google (which was very short because I've become too used to bangs) I swallowed my annoyance and went back to DDG.

sharcerer 8y ago

May I know what you mean by interesting little websites? I am a student, and for the past 1 year the Google Feed in the Google app/ Chrome Browser has recommended by really good blogs of individual people/websites related to my topics of interest like ML, Vision,AI. I wouldn't have discovered many of these websites on my own or would have when it would be too late. Some of the recommendations have really delighted me from time to time.

rchaud 8y ago

You're not alone. Over the past few years it feels like I have been getting my content "fed" to me via Reddit, FB, IG, etc, when a decade ago I'd always be finding cool new sites via my own Google searches and through a small list of RSS feeds. I think what's happened is that the biggest sites figured out what it takes to rank on Page 1, be it keyword-stuffing blog posts or whatever. The "interesting" sites I liked didn't update as much, so they fell down the rankings. It's extremely apparent when a site is SEO-optimized, and for me that turns me off, especially if the area is a niche topic and not well served. If it's something like a reliable way to unclog a toilet, I'm not picky, the most popular search result is probably the one I'm looking for!