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I think much of the apparent deterioration of Google Search is because high-quality information is disappearing from the web. Google can't return results that d

I think much of the apparent deterioration of Google Search is because high-quality information is disappearing from the web. Google can't return results that don't exist. If you Google '$PRODUCT review' and only get Amazon-affiliate scam sites pretending to be review sites, it's not because Google has been SEOed but rather because there are no actual reviews of $PRODUCT. Aside from a botched update last year, where Google would only return results that were selling things, Google Search is still very good at finding information that exists.

srtjstjsj 6y ago
Google could downrank websites with affiliate links, since those are ads stuffing organic results. But they choose not to.
- gundmc 6y ago
  Many of the only high quality review sites left (like Wirecutter) are partially monetized with referral links. I don't think this would be a good approach.
  - freediver 6y ago
    It's not partially, it is almost solely. And yes that creates conflict of interest, same one search engines have when they display ads. When looking at a web page you nowadays have to wonder 'what is the purpose of this page?'. Unfortunately even sites like wirecutter exist more and more to drive revenue, rather than inform the user. The only types of pages where purpose is still non-commercial (in most cases) are discussions.
laurent92 6y ago
Did you say « Authentic reviews don’t exist »? Or did you say « Google doesn’t show us any authentic reviews, therefore they don’t exist »? It is the pointer to monopolistic behavior: Being so influent that nothing exists outside the Google Search. We can’t affirm honest reviews don’t exist: I’m sure there are authentic comparators, in fact in France UFC Que Choisir is a pretty leftist comparison organization who explores products, compares them and even regularly sends companies to trial, a pretty good sign that they couldn’t care less for those companies in a way that is awesomely aligned with authenticity. I’m sure there are millions of other people writing reviews for pleasure. Google chose not to show them, and to orient their search in the way they wanted, whatever it is, maybe they’re showing corporate sites first, or commercial sites first, making it impossible for amateurs to exist, making them « don’t exist ». It turns out it makes you feel like nothing is authentic. Therefore we turn back to Amazon or Google and buy any of the list, just trusting the biggest vendor. This probably innocuous wording of yours may be the key to the whole problem here.
- bleepblorp 6y ago
  My assumption is that authentic reviews don't exist, at least on the English-speaking web, to the extent that they did 10-20 years ago. Google doesn't find authentic reviews in most areas, but neither does DDG or Bing. Google and DDG, however, are very good at finding authentic reviews in niche market segments where authentic reviews are still common. The fact that search engines can find these reviews suggests that the lack of authentic reviews for mainstream products is much more due to a lack of authentic reviews on the web rather than a problem with search engines.

srtjstjsj 6y ago

Google could downrank websites with affiliate links, since those are ads stuffing organic results. But they choose not to.

gundmc 6y ago
Many of the only high quality review sites left (like Wirecutter) are partially monetized with referral links. I don't think this would be a good approach.
- freediver 6y ago
  It's not partially, it is almost solely. And yes that creates conflict of interest, same one search engines have when they display ads. When looking at a web page you nowadays have to wonder 'what is the purpose of this page?'. Unfortunately even sites like wirecutter exist more and more to drive revenue, rather than inform the user. The only types of pages where purpose is still non-commercial (in most cases) are discussions.

laurent92 6y ago

Did you say « Authentic reviews don’t exist »? Or did you say « Google doesn’t show us any authentic reviews, therefore they don’t exist »? It is the pointer to monopolistic behavior: Being so influent that nothing exists outside the Google Search. We can’t affirm honest reviews don’t exist: I’m sure there are authentic comparators, in fact in France UFC Que Choisir is a pretty leftist comparison organization who explores products, compares them and even regularly sends companies to trial, a pretty good sign that they couldn’t care less for those companies in a way that is awesomely aligned with authenticity. I’m sure there are millions of other people writing reviews for pleasure. Google chose not to show them, and to orient their search in the way they wanted, whatever it is, maybe they’re showing corporate sites first, or commercial sites first, making it impossible for amateurs to exist, making them « don’t exist ». It turns out it makes you feel like nothing is authentic. Therefore we turn back to Amazon or Google and buy any of the list, just trusting the biggest vendor. This probably innocuous wording of yours may be the key to the whole problem here.

bleepblorp 6y ago
My assumption is that authentic reviews don't exist, at least on the English-speaking web, to the extent that they did 10-20 years ago. Google doesn't find authentic reviews in most areas, but neither does DDG or Bing. Google and DDG, however, are very good at finding authentic reviews in niche market segments where authentic reviews are still common. The fact that search engines can find these reviews suggests that the lack of authentic reviews for mainstream products is much more due to a lack of authentic reviews on the web rather than a problem with search engines.