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I agree here. For the median search I make, having to click on a website is a failure. If I search "John McCain age at death", why would I click on a website? T

I agree here. For the median search I make, having to click on a website is a failure. If I search "John McCain age at death", why would I click on a website? This seems trivial, but it is frustrating for even more technical issues. If I search "Non-standard evaluation in left-hand side of mutate command R", it's a bit weird that I'm expected to click the first StackExchange rather than getting a canonical answer excerpted. Ditto when I search "Analytic standard error of a regularized regression". These are basically true/false questions, and it's a win for Google if they give me the answer. I do emphathize with the companies being scooped by Google, and so I have concern that they are viable economically and that Google compensates them for getting the info from them. But in the mean time, it's a success for me when my search gives me the answer immediately instead of two or three rounds of indirection.

n3k5 7y ago
> If I search "Non-standard evaluation in left-hand side of mutate command R", it's a bit weird that I'm expected to click the first StackExchange rather than getting a canonical answer excerpted. Are you saying that there's no excerpt at all above the search results, when you expected one; or that there is an excerpt, but it's not from the most appropriate/relevant source? It's annoying when there's a page that has all the information you might need, but to find it, you first have to scroll past a bunch of Stack Overflow posts that are more suitable for dilettantes who prioritise trying a quick fix over learning best practices. But when you do make the effort to find the most promising link and your browser allows the search engine to record your choice, you at least get a vote regarding how the ranking should be adjusted. When users just look at the results but don't interact with them any further, that feedback vanishes. A win for Google isn't necessarily a win for Google users.
kaybe 7y ago
Maybe Wikipedia could do with a fact-pulling tool that answers small questions like this?

n3k5 7y ago

> If I search "Non-standard evaluation in left-hand side of mutate command R", it's a bit weird that I'm expected to click the first StackExchange rather than getting a canonical answer excerpted. Are you saying that there's no excerpt at all above the search results, when you expected one; or that there is an excerpt, but it's not from the most appropriate/relevant source? It's annoying when there's a page that has all the information you might need, but to find it, you first have to scroll past a bunch of Stack Overflow posts that are more suitable for dilettantes who prioritise trying a quick fix over learning best practices. But when you do make the effort to find the most promising link and your browser allows the search engine to record your choice, you at least get a vote regarding how the ranking should be adjusted. When users just look at the results but don't interact with them any further, that feedback vanishes. A win for Google isn't necessarily a win for Google users.

kaybe 7y ago

Maybe Wikipedia could do with a fact-pulling tool that answers small questions like this?