5 ms·

I add “site:reddit.com” to consumer/product related Google searches. This usually gets me the quality information I’m looking for.

whatch 5y ago
Or simply add "Reddit" to your search query. The first result will be from Reddit. And there will be a URL to other results from there.
- r1ch 5y ago
  I see more and more queries suggesting autocompletion of "reddit" and similar sites these days. Google's default results are extremely poor quality for many queries.
hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
I guess many people do that, but it shows the review system failed miserably when you look for quality information on reddit. I mean, in theory, reddit would have all kinds of noise and fake opinions, whereas Amazon etc. should have only verified and curated reviews, including methodologies for spotting abuse and procedures for manual verification. Well, the economics of scale that drives them insane profits is also the cause they lost this battle.
- dageshi 5y ago
  Reddit is always going to be better. Niche subs are where actual experts who've tried entire ranges of products hang out, amazon is where one random guy bought their first crappy product and left a 5 star review because they don't actually know whether what they bought is good or not.
  - noneeeed 5y ago
    Or even worse, leaving a 5 star review because it is what they ordered but they haven't actually used it because it's a present for their nephew...
    - hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
      My pet peeve is nagging to leave a review as soon as possible after the purchase. I mean, what can I write at that point? I received the product. It is blue. The seller shipped the product quickly. That's all. Personally, I'm exclusively interested in reviews by people who have used the product for at least a couple of months, preferably years. But I guess the review score would be much lower and the impulse to buy would be weaker. And its a shame as there are products that deserve excellent reviews.
    - rjmunro 5y ago
      More likely leaving a 5 star review because they are working for the manufacturer, or left a 1 star review because they are working for the manufacturer of a similar but different product.
  - eddieh 5y ago
    If consumers start relying on niche subs en masse, then it is only a matter of time until Reddit is overrun with shills and sock puppets.
    - Karsteski 5y ago
      And so we move on to other niche forums. It's going to be a very drawn out battle lol...
    - dageshi 5y ago
      The mods of subs for the most part know what those look like as do the existing communities. Most niche reddit subs are very sensitive to astroturfing because the people involved in it rely on good information from those subs, they also know who the regulars are as well.
ignoramous 5y ago
Google search improved web but then ruined it for no fault of its own [0]. There is just so much spam. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law
Tenoke 5y ago
Except Google still displays a lot of archived very old threads as if they are new[0] so often searching for recent reviews that way is annoying. 0. https://svilentodorov.xyz/blog/bad-search/ https://svilentodorov.xyz/blog/bad-search/
willj 5y ago
I do the same, but I think there are an increasing number of astroturf campaigns taking advantage of that, too.
- mandmandam 5y ago
  There certainly are, and they are growing more sophisticated. Still better than print media though.
IkmoIkmo 5y ago
Are there any nice Chrome extensions to expand on Google that anyone can recommend? Would be nice to have a default Reddit setting, or a 'search reddit' button on Google. There's a couple other ones as well besides Reddit, particularly around key forums. Shouldn't be too hard to allow custom-buttons. In general now that people are here, I'd be pretty interested to know what people's top 5 extensions are outside of the regular (uBlock, Pocket etc). They're quite powerful but I don't use that many actually. In the EU I use a no-cookies extension, though imperfect. I also use 'video speed controller' religiously to easily watch/listen to content faster. But overal I find few extensions very useful and the ones I use cause issues on a small fraction of sites. Happy to hear from computer super-users what they use.
- gumby 5y ago
  > Are there any nice Chrome extensions to expand on Google that anyone can recommend? Just have to point out the irony of patching google’s spyware browser to get around google’s poor results
makecheck 5y ago
Yes but unfortunately it still creates links using the “new” Reddit interface. Installing an add-on like Old Reddit Redirect helps to restore sanity when searching by site.

whatch 5y ago

Or simply add "Reddit" to your search query. The first result will be from Reddit. And there will be a URL to other results from there.

r1ch 5y ago
I see more and more queries suggesting autocompletion of "reddit" and similar sites these days. Google's default results are extremely poor quality for many queries.

hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago

I guess many people do that, but it shows the review system failed miserably when you look for quality information on reddit. I mean, in theory, reddit would have all kinds of noise and fake opinions, whereas Amazon etc. should have only verified and curated reviews, including methodologies for spotting abuse and procedures for manual verification. Well, the economics of scale that drives them insane profits is also the cause they lost this battle.

dageshi 5y ago
Reddit is always going to be better. Niche subs are where actual experts who've tried entire ranges of products hang out, amazon is where one random guy bought their first crappy product and left a 5 star review because they don't actually know whether what they bought is good or not.
- noneeeed 5y ago
  Or even worse, leaving a 5 star review because it is what they ordered but they haven't actually used it because it's a present for their nephew...
  - hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
    My pet peeve is nagging to leave a review as soon as possible after the purchase. I mean, what can I write at that point? I received the product. It is blue. The seller shipped the product quickly. That's all. Personally, I'm exclusively interested in reviews by people who have used the product for at least a couple of months, preferably years. But I guess the review score would be much lower and the impulse to buy would be weaker. And its a shame as there are products that deserve excellent reviews.
  - rjmunro 5y ago
    More likely leaving a 5 star review because they are working for the manufacturer, or left a 1 star review because they are working for the manufacturer of a similar but different product.
- eddieh 5y ago
  If consumers start relying on niche subs en masse, then it is only a matter of time until Reddit is overrun with shills and sock puppets.
  - Karsteski 5y ago
    And so we move on to other niche forums. It's going to be a very drawn out battle lol...
  - dageshi 5y ago
    The mods of subs for the most part know what those look like as do the existing communities. Most niche reddit subs are very sensitive to astroturfing because the people involved in it rely on good information from those subs, they also know who the regulars are as well.

ignoramous 5y ago

Google search improved web but then ruined it for no fault of its own [0]. There is just so much spam. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law

Tenoke 5y ago

Except Google still displays a lot of archived very old threads as if they are new[0] so often searching for recent reviews that way is annoying. 0. https://svilentodorov.xyz/blog/bad-search/ https://svilentodorov.xyz/blog/bad-search/

willj 5y ago

I do the same, but I think there are an increasing number of astroturf campaigns taking advantage of that, too.

mandmandam 5y ago
There certainly are, and they are growing more sophisticated. Still better than print media though.

IkmoIkmo 5y ago

Are there any nice Chrome extensions to expand on Google that anyone can recommend? Would be nice to have a default Reddit setting, or a 'search reddit' button on Google. There's a couple other ones as well besides Reddit, particularly around key forums. Shouldn't be too hard to allow custom-buttons. In general now that people are here, I'd be pretty interested to know what people's top 5 extensions are outside of the regular (uBlock, Pocket etc). They're quite powerful but I don't use that many actually. In the EU I use a no-cookies extension, though imperfect. I also use 'video speed controller' religiously to easily watch/listen to content faster. But overal I find few extensions very useful and the ones I use cause issues on a small fraction of sites. Happy to hear from computer super-users what they use.

gumby 5y ago
> Are there any nice Chrome extensions to expand on Google that anyone can recommend? Just have to point out the irony of patching google’s spyware browser to get around google’s poor results

makecheck 5y ago

Yes but unfortunately it still creates links using the “new” Reddit interface. Installing an add-on like Old Reddit Redirect helps to restore sanity when searching by site.