7 ms·

Block sites from ever appearing again in Google results

37 points by vaksel 15y ago

geuis 15y ago
I don't want Google to block any sites. I don't need nor want a personalized internet filter bubble. What I want Google to do is learn to recognize spammy or irrelevant sites and rank them lower.
- jigs_up 15y ago
  You want a global internet filter bubble then?
  - geuis 15y ago
    Your comment doesn't even make sense. Look, take a few minutes and watch this. http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bu... When a site gets blocked by Google, it doesn't disappear from the internet but all of a sudden it disappears to hundreds of millions of people. Poof. Gone. If a site gets ranked lower, then it won't get as much traffic but at least its still findable. Even spammy sites deserve a chance to turn their shit around (although it almost never happens). If I want to block a site for just me, fine. There's browser extensions that do that. However, when Google or Bing or DuckDuckGo lets you do it and then uses that data in ranking sites for other people there's a Big Filter Problem. Or alternatively, there's a Big Fucking Problem.
    - joebadmo 15y ago
      Ranking something lower, especially if it gets knocked off the first page, has the same effect in kind, if not degree, as blocking. I'm not sure which part of this you think contributes to the filter bubble effect (which I'm skeptical about in the first place). If I block a site, it's because I don't want to see results from it, and I was never going to visit it anyway. How is using blocking data as part of the algorithm any bigger a filter problem than any other part of the algorithm? Google uses many, many search signals and this is just one of them. And I imagine a pretty good one.
- rocktronica 15y ago
  I'd assume this is doing that, people just don't know it.
- vaksel 15y ago
  if I feel that site X is spammy...why should I be forced to keep seeing it in my search results so that I avoid a personal internet bubble?
- bigiain 15y ago
  This will give their "almighty algorithm" a great input for recognizing "spammy" sites. Of course, as soon as it starts working, we'll get various religious or politically motivated groups blocking sites they don't agree with, and blackhat SEOs selling packages of botnetted or mechanical turk-ed "blocks" of your competitor's sites...
SoftwarePatent 15y ago
I've been waiting for this for a long time, kudos Google!
FiddlerClamp 15y ago
For Chrome, see the extension at https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/nolijncfnkgaikbjbdaogikpmpbdcdef https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/nolijncfnkgaikbjbd... I agree with geius that I'd rather have some indication of what I've blocked. I like the Murdoch blocker (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/moepiacmhnmbiilhpojodnaopndhddpg https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/moepiacmhnmbiilhpo...) for that reason - it'll tell you why it's blocked you from a site, and gives you the option to whitelist it.
drivebyacct2 15y ago
This is weeks, er, months old. Official announcement (from March): http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/hide-sites-to-find-more-of-what-you.html http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/hide-sites-to-find-mo... There has been previous discussion on HN as well: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2310310 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2310310 and discussion of the Chrome extension that led to it: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2218382 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2218382
llimllib 15y ago
Goodbye, w3schools!
- zabraxias 15y ago
  I can't +1 this enough. w3schools is a plague on web development search queries
- misuse-permit 15y ago
  This is a bit off topic, but do you know a better resource than this w3schools page on Javascript and DOM? [1] I'm just learning now, and it's really frustrating me that I can't find a better resource. Java : Javadoc :: Javascript : ???? [1] - http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/ http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/
  - spacemanaki 15y ago
    The Mozilla docs? https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript
    - misuse-permit 15y ago
      Now I feel like an idiot, thanks :)
tocomment 15y ago
Goodbye wikianswers?
pornel 15y ago
It doesn't seem to work. I've blocked w3schools, and they're still 2nd result for "doctype" (perhaps it's an US-only feature? Google keeps redirecting me to .co.uk search)
- 1880 15y ago
  Yep, it's US only. You can add the sites to the list but they're not blocked if you're not in the US.
ph33r 15y ago
Goodbye experts-exchange.com!!
- RyanKearney 15y ago
  Or, you know, just scroll to the bottom of the page for the answer.
blahedo 15y ago
This site is blocked unless you have a Google account and log in with it. Anyone care to post a summary?
- pigbucket 15y ago
  "If you don't like a site that appears in your search results, you can block all the pages within that site. Then you won't see any of those pages when you're signed in and searching on Google. If you change your mind, you can unblock the site later. Sites will be blocked only for you, but Google may use everyone's blocking information to improve the ranking of search results overall. You may block up to 500 sites."
muppetman 15y ago
Does anyone have a good list of sites to block? I know that, on the face of it, sounds dumb, but there's some that annoy _everyone_. experts-exchange was the first site I've blocked, for example. Anyone have a list of those annoying sites that pop up when you're trying to search for some obscure error message etc? I'd love to be a bit proactive.
- dredmorbius 15y ago
  experts-exchange gets my vote as well. I hate hate hate the thought of having to do all my Google searches logged in though.
- pigbucket 15y ago
  dsl put one up when the chrome extension block was released: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2218528 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2218528
  - muppetman 15y ago
    Exactly what I was looking for, thank you.
- shawnee_ 15y ago
  Yelp. The only site I block, as of about a week ago: http://bit.ly/odVtMg http://bit.ly/odVtMg Background: Had an account since April 2007, had reviews removed, last month had my account deleted without notice or warning. I emailed asking for a reason, but have heard nothing. Yelp uses its "rank" in Google, Yahoo, et. al to bribe and extort small businesses, to prevent facts from being public knowledge, and to censor citizen reporting. If a small business doesn't have its own website, Yelp is usually the first thing that pops up in a search; it knows this and milks it for everything it can.
- laughinghan 15y ago
  w3schools.com Why? See http://w3fools.com http://w3fools.com
  - 15y ago
mmuro 15y ago
"Sites will be blocked only for you, but Google may use everyone's blocking information to improve the ranking of search results overall." This to me says "If we get enough reports of a site being blocked, we're going to make sure everyone's Google searches will block you." I think this is great for spam sites, but for legitimate sites (whether you like w3schools or not) I can certainly see this as annoying.
- comex 15y ago
  Whether or not it's legitimate, the number of people that don't find a site helpful, and block it, is probably correlated with the chance that a random Google searcher won't find it helpful.
kungfu71186 15y ago
good bye about.com and ehow.com
- misuse-permit 15y ago
  I'm not sure why everyone on HN seems to be bagging on about.com. It's a legitimate website that pays authors to write content [1]. True, it's ugly and written at a 6th grade reading level, but it's sometimes useful. It's certainly not a spam site. [1] - http://beaguide.about.com/ http://beaguide.about.com/
  - abrowne 15y ago
    I agree — I used to hate About.com, but I've found some of the subsites have some decent articles. I've found some decent recipe ideas on the Greek Food subsite, for example.
- dredmorbius 15y ago
  I'll let them live. About.com actually have some pretty legit content.
nkurz 15y ago
Does anyone know if there's a parallel way to block sites from their Shopping search? If not, this would be a wonderful feature. There are a few "low price" sites that keep popping up in my results, but never actually offer goods for sale at these teaser prices. I'd love to never be tempted by them again.
dredmorbius 15y ago
I'd like to see whole content farms blocked. There was a Chinese knock-off (counterfeit) goods spamming Craigslist heavily a year or so back, hosting a bunch of domains out of a Fremont datacenter. Too many domains to list individually. It's cases like this that make aggregate blocking/banning approaches far more valuable. The problem with individual blocklists is that they have to be maintained, and over time they suffer from bitrot. And life is hard and I want a pony.
Cancel 15y ago
Well, nice feature, but doesn't work for me. Maybe it works in some countries only.

37 points by vaksel 15y ago

geuis 15y ago

I don't want Google to block any sites. I don't need nor want a personalized internet filter bubble. What I want Google to do is learn to recognize spammy or irrelevant sites and rank them lower.

jigs_up 15y ago
You want a global internet filter bubble then?
- geuis 15y ago
  Your comment doesn't even make sense. Look, take a few minutes and watch this. http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bu... When a site gets blocked by Google, it doesn't disappear from the internet but all of a sudden it disappears to hundreds of millions of people. Poof. Gone. If a site gets ranked lower, then it won't get as much traffic but at least its still findable. Even spammy sites deserve a chance to turn their shit around (although it almost never happens). If I want to block a site for just me, fine. There's browser extensions that do that. However, when Google or Bing or DuckDuckGo lets you do it and then uses that data in ranking sites for other people there's a Big Filter Problem. Or alternatively, there's a Big Fucking Problem.
  - joebadmo 15y ago
    Ranking something lower, especially if it gets knocked off the first page, has the same effect in kind, if not degree, as blocking. I'm not sure which part of this you think contributes to the filter bubble effect (which I'm skeptical about in the first place). If I block a site, it's because I don't want to see results from it, and I was never going to visit it anyway. How is using blocking data as part of the algorithm any bigger a filter problem than any other part of the algorithm? Google uses many, many search signals and this is just one of them. And I imagine a pretty good one.
rocktronica 15y ago
I'd assume this is doing that, people just don't know it.
vaksel 15y ago
if I feel that site X is spammy...why should I be forced to keep seeing it in my search results so that I avoid a personal internet bubble?
bigiain 15y ago
This will give their "almighty algorithm" a great input for recognizing "spammy" sites. Of course, as soon as it starts working, we'll get various religious or politically motivated groups blocking sites they don't agree with, and blackhat SEOs selling packages of botnetted or mechanical turk-ed "blocks" of your competitor's sites...

SoftwarePatent 15y ago

I've been waiting for this for a long time, kudos Google!

FiddlerClamp 15y ago

For Chrome, see the extension at https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/nolijncfnkgaikbjbdaogikpmpbdcdef https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/nolijncfnkgaikbjbd... I agree with geius that I'd rather have some indication of what I've blocked. I like the Murdoch blocker (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/moepiacmhnmbiilhpojodnaopndhddpg https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/moepiacmhnmbiilhpo...) for that reason - it'll tell you why it's blocked you from a site, and gives you the option to whitelist it.

drivebyacct2 15y ago

This is weeks, er, months old. Official announcement (from March): http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/hide-sites-to-find-more-of-what-you.html http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/hide-sites-to-find-mo... There has been previous discussion on HN as well: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2310310 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2310310 and discussion of the Chrome extension that led to it: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2218382 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2218382

llimllib 15y ago

Goodbye, w3schools!

zabraxias 15y ago
I can't +1 this enough. w3schools is a plague on web development search queries
misuse-permit 15y ago
This is a bit off topic, but do you know a better resource than this w3schools page on Javascript and DOM? [1] I'm just learning now, and it's really frustrating me that I can't find a better resource. Java : Javadoc :: Javascript : ???? [1] - http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/ http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/
- spacemanaki 15y ago
  The Mozilla docs? https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript
  - misuse-permit 15y ago
    Now I feel like an idiot, thanks :)

tocomment 15y ago

Goodbye wikianswers?

pornel 15y ago

It doesn't seem to work. I've blocked w3schools, and they're still 2nd result for "doctype" (perhaps it's an US-only feature? Google keeps redirecting me to .co.uk search)

1880 15y ago
Yep, it's US only. You can add the sites to the list but they're not blocked if you're not in the US.

ph33r 15y ago

Goodbye experts-exchange.com!!

RyanKearney 15y ago
Or, you know, just scroll to the bottom of the page for the answer.

blahedo 15y ago

This site is blocked unless you have a Google account and log in with it. Anyone care to post a summary?

pigbucket 15y ago
"If you don't like a site that appears in your search results, you can block all the pages within that site. Then you won't see any of those pages when you're signed in and searching on Google. If you change your mind, you can unblock the site later. Sites will be blocked only for you, but Google may use everyone's blocking information to improve the ranking of search results overall. You may block up to 500 sites."

muppetman 15y ago

Does anyone have a good list of sites to block? I know that, on the face of it, sounds dumb, but there's some that annoy _everyone_. experts-exchange was the first site I've blocked, for example. Anyone have a list of those annoying sites that pop up when you're trying to search for some obscure error message etc? I'd love to be a bit proactive.

dredmorbius 15y ago
experts-exchange gets my vote as well. I hate hate hate the thought of having to do all my Google searches logged in though.
pigbucket 15y ago
dsl put one up when the chrome extension block was released: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2218528 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2218528
- muppetman 15y ago
  Exactly what I was looking for, thank you.
shawnee_ 15y ago
Yelp. The only site I block, as of about a week ago: http://bit.ly/odVtMg http://bit.ly/odVtMg Background: Had an account since April 2007, had reviews removed, last month had my account deleted without notice or warning. I emailed asking for a reason, but have heard nothing. Yelp uses its "rank" in Google, Yahoo, et. al to bribe and extort small businesses, to prevent facts from being public knowledge, and to censor citizen reporting. If a small business doesn't have its own website, Yelp is usually the first thing that pops up in a search; it knows this and milks it for everything it can.
laughinghan 15y ago
w3schools.com Why? See http://w3fools.com http://w3fools.com
- 15y ago

mmuro 15y ago

"Sites will be blocked only for you, but Google may use everyone's blocking information to improve the ranking of search results overall." This to me says "If we get enough reports of a site being blocked, we're going to make sure everyone's Google searches will block you." I think this is great for spam sites, but for legitimate sites (whether you like w3schools or not) I can certainly see this as annoying.

comex 15y ago
Whether or not it's legitimate, the number of people that don't find a site helpful, and block it, is probably correlated with the chance that a random Google searcher won't find it helpful.

kungfu71186 15y ago

good bye about.com and ehow.com

misuse-permit 15y ago
I'm not sure why everyone on HN seems to be bagging on about.com. It's a legitimate website that pays authors to write content [1]. True, it's ugly and written at a 6th grade reading level, but it's sometimes useful. It's certainly not a spam site. [1] - http://beaguide.about.com/ http://beaguide.about.com/
- abrowne 15y ago
  I agree — I used to hate About.com, but I've found some of the subsites have some decent articles. I've found some decent recipe ideas on the Greek Food subsite, for example.
dredmorbius 15y ago
I'll let them live. About.com actually have some pretty legit content.

nkurz 15y ago

Does anyone know if there's a parallel way to block sites from their Shopping search? If not, this would be a wonderful feature. There are a few "low price" sites that keep popping up in my results, but never actually offer goods for sale at these teaser prices. I'd love to never be tempted by them again.

dredmorbius 15y ago

I'd like to see whole content farms blocked. There was a Chinese knock-off (counterfeit) goods spamming Craigslist heavily a year or so back, hosting a bunch of domains out of a Fremont datacenter. Too many domains to list individually. It's cases like this that make aggregate blocking/banning approaches far more valuable. The problem with individual blocklists is that they have to be maintained, and over time they suffer from bitrot. And life is hard and I want a pony.

Cancel 15y ago

Well, nice feature, but doesn't work for me. Maybe it works in some countries only.