3 ms·

i think there are some unintended consequences with blacklist list-sharing: 1) if google ever starts using this data as a signal in their search algorithm, do

i think there are some unintended consequences with blacklist list-sharing: 1) if google ever starts using this data as a signal in their search algorithm, do you really think demand media is going to give up, or do you think they are going to start moving their content on the 500k+ domains they own, effectively making it impossible to deal with the problem. 2) list-sharing seems to be starting an arms race where spammy sites start pushing their own lists that include all of their competitor's sites but not their own. (i am not accusing the OP of doing this, but i think its best for each user to choose individually. if these sites really have such egregiously bad content, then users should very quickly be able to decide for themselves when a site should be blacklisted.

elsewhen 16y ago
furthermore, demand media will likely react to any negative implications of this by continuing its partnerships with large existing sites. for example, demand media already creates content for USA today http://www.demandmedia.com/blog/powering-travel-tips-for-usa-today/ http://www.demandmedia.com/blog/powering-travel-tips-for-usa... if needed, i am sure demand can cut deals with sites that you probably wouldn't want to blacklist. in the end, search engines are going to have to figure out how to send users to good pages, on a page by page basis.
jonknee 16y ago
This will give Google great data on how to detect content farm content, so it will be easier to penalize on long tail domains or syndication deals. I shared my domains simply to save people time. If you disagree with one of the results, by all means don't add it to your block list. Adblock lists have been similarly helpful--I make some customizations but I don't have to start from scratch.
Natsu 16y ago
> do you really think demand media is going to give up, or do you think they are going to start moving their content on the 500k+ domains they own Google already has a "find pages similar to this" function. So if they look at the stuff you've blocked that would have shown up in your search, then give you the option to block pages similar to that, well, hopefully it will block any copies of that crap, too.
- elsewhen 16y ago
  i am not suggesting that they are going to duplicate their content onto other domains, but rather host say a handful of articles with unique content on one domain and a different set of content on a different domain. they dont have to be similar in any way. one will be about grilling lobster tails and the other will be about restringing your tennis racket.
chc 16y ago
Point 2 only applies if you blindly apply any blacklist you come across. If people who blindly obey everything they're told are so numerous, this "arms race" should exist just as much with word-of-mouth and blacklists aren't introducing a new problem.
- elsewhen 16y ago
  i am sure that hacker-news users are savvy enough to check each site one-by-one, but blacklist-sharing in general can be detrimental if they get distributed to mainstream users. imagine if these lists get to be 100-domains long... some users are simply going to take the shortcut and apply-all. the due-diligence required to cull a good list takes time. the very fact that this post is getting upvoted is because even hacker-news users are looking for shortcuts. blacklists introduce a new problem: SEOs distributing such lists that include lots of weak sites (to make the list look credible) along with their competitor's domain snuck in.
  - chc 16y ago
    So, again, it's a matter of trusting your source. Just like with word of mouth.
    - elsewhen 16y ago
      word of mouth is typically a one-by-one recommendation, where doing your own research is straightforward and quick. ie, if a friend recommends a movie for you to watch, you might check it out, read the reviews, and then add it to your netflix queue. with a long list, doing the due diligence becomes orders-of-magnitude more labor intensive, so users are more incented to just copy/paste an entire list. in the case of netflix queues, perhaps there isn't too much at stake... but with a domain blacklist, SEOs and spammers have their entire livelihoods at stake... if this extension takes off, and if google starts using this data, i would expect well-funded SEOs to start heavily promoting their lists (with their sites omitted, and their competitor's sites included). of course hacker-news users may be immune from such tricks, but we represent just a minority of the data that google will get from this tool... if it goes mainstream, i am sad to admit that my parents are likely fall for "follow these simple steps to dramatically improve your google results"
AbnormalGun 16y ago
If Google starts incorporating blacklists into their search results, then couldn't groups of people coordinate their black lists to suppress sites they didn't like?

elsewhen 16y ago

furthermore, demand media will likely react to any negative implications of this by continuing its partnerships with large existing sites. for example, demand media already creates content for USA today http://www.demandmedia.com/blog/powering-travel-tips-for-usa-today/ http://www.demandmedia.com/blog/powering-travel-tips-for-usa... if needed, i am sure demand can cut deals with sites that you probably wouldn't want to blacklist. in the end, search engines are going to have to figure out how to send users to good pages, on a page by page basis.

jonknee 16y ago

This will give Google great data on how to detect content farm content, so it will be easier to penalize on long tail domains or syndication deals. I shared my domains simply to save people time. If you disagree with one of the results, by all means don't add it to your block list. Adblock lists have been similarly helpful--I make some customizations but I don't have to start from scratch.

Natsu 16y ago

> do you really think demand media is going to give up, or do you think they are going to start moving their content on the 500k+ domains they own Google already has a "find pages similar to this" function. So if they look at the stuff you've blocked that would have shown up in your search, then give you the option to block pages similar to that, well, hopefully it will block any copies of that crap, too.

elsewhen 16y ago
i am not suggesting that they are going to duplicate their content onto other domains, but rather host say a handful of articles with unique content on one domain and a different set of content on a different domain. they dont have to be similar in any way. one will be about grilling lobster tails and the other will be about restringing your tennis racket.

chc 16y ago

Point 2 only applies if you blindly apply any blacklist you come across. If people who blindly obey everything they're told are so numerous, this "arms race" should exist just as much with word-of-mouth and blacklists aren't introducing a new problem.

elsewhen 16y ago
i am sure that hacker-news users are savvy enough to check each site one-by-one, but blacklist-sharing in general can be detrimental if they get distributed to mainstream users. imagine if these lists get to be 100-domains long... some users are simply going to take the shortcut and apply-all. the due-diligence required to cull a good list takes time. the very fact that this post is getting upvoted is because even hacker-news users are looking for shortcuts. blacklists introduce a new problem: SEOs distributing such lists that include lots of weak sites (to make the list look credible) along with their competitor's domain snuck in.
- chc 16y ago
  So, again, it's a matter of trusting your source. Just like with word of mouth.
  - elsewhen 16y ago
    word of mouth is typically a one-by-one recommendation, where doing your own research is straightforward and quick. ie, if a friend recommends a movie for you to watch, you might check it out, read the reviews, and then add it to your netflix queue. with a long list, doing the due diligence becomes orders-of-magnitude more labor intensive, so users are more incented to just copy/paste an entire list. in the case of netflix queues, perhaps there isn't too much at stake... but with a domain blacklist, SEOs and spammers have their entire livelihoods at stake... if this extension takes off, and if google starts using this data, i would expect well-funded SEOs to start heavily promoting their lists (with their sites omitted, and their competitor's sites included). of course hacker-news users may be immune from such tricks, but we represent just a minority of the data that google will get from this tool... if it goes mainstream, i am sad to admit that my parents are likely fall for "follow these simple steps to dramatically improve your google results"

AbnormalGun 16y ago

If Google starts incorporating blacklists into their search results, then couldn't groups of people coordinate their black lists to suppress sites they didn't like?