4 ms·

I am surprised by this as well since Google is able to identify the origin of content (eg. Stackoverflow) and penalize sites for duplicating that content (or so

I am surprised by this as well since Google is able to identify the origin of content (eg. Stackoverflow) and penalize sites for duplicating that content (or so they say). In my opinion it wouldn’t be difficult to identify the domains duplicating the content and penalize heavily. But, those sites are most likely displaying Google Ads so…

hsbauauvhabzb 5y ago
I just wish I could configure google to not show certain domains such as W3schools without adding a complex search query or installing plugins
- bsder 5y ago
  This is such an easy optimization that Google has to have tried it and seen their ad revenue fall. "Permanently remove this site from search results" seems like the absolute easiest "personalization" to implement.
  - mynameismon 5y ago
    And the most certain too. You don't need to guess whether or not the user really needs that result
  - Nextgrid 5y ago
    But what will Google do if users end up banning the majority of websites with Google Ads and/or analytics? The reason Google doesn't fight SEO spam (and just generally annoying/obnoxious behavior such as paywalls) more aggressively is because it doesn't want to bite the hand that feeds - all these spammy sites have ads or analytics that benefit Google.
- dx034 5y ago
  To be fair, w3schools and the like don't just copy content. They provide different information and, most importantly, present it differently from official docs. And for many, their way of presenting information may work better.
  - hsbauauvhabzb 5y ago
    I acknowledge your opinion but still do not want to see that and several other spam sites over more official sources such as mdn.
- triceratops 5y ago
  The W3schools hate is a bit outdated. Even W3Fools[1] eventually backtracked and acknowledged that W3Schools has continuously improved and updated their content. 1. https://www.w3fools.com/ https://www.w3fools.com/
Closi 5y ago
I would assume this is easier if you are indexing more frequently and have been indexing for longer, and Google has more resources to allow them to crawl more often (another advantage to scale in search, which combined with other advantages of scale, is why Google has an effective monopoly IMO). If you recently started crawling you won't be able to detect which content was 'first', and if you don't crawl as frequently as google you are reliant on your crawl frequency being quicker than the 'content stealing' speed.
- addingnumbers 5y ago
  > if you don't crawl as frequently as google you are reliant on your crawl frequency being quicker than the 'content stealing' speed. No problem there. If a page hasn't been crawled, it won't be a search result.
  - Closi 5y ago
    I mean you need to crawl often enough that you can determine which site stole content. If a full crawl of the web takes 3 months and A steals content from B after 2 weeks, it may not be possible to easily infer that A has stolen from B rather than visa-versa. If I crawl every week and see that A posted it on the first crawl, and B suddenly also had that content on the second crawl, I can infer that B stole from A.

hsbauauvhabzb 5y ago

I just wish I could configure google to not show certain domains such as W3schools without adding a complex search query or installing plugins

bsder 5y ago
This is such an easy optimization that Google has to have tried it and seen their ad revenue fall. "Permanently remove this site from search results" seems like the absolute easiest "personalization" to implement.
- mynameismon 5y ago
  And the most certain too. You don't need to guess whether or not the user really needs that result
- Nextgrid 5y ago
  But what will Google do if users end up banning the majority of websites with Google Ads and/or analytics? The reason Google doesn't fight SEO spam (and just generally annoying/obnoxious behavior such as paywalls) more aggressively is because it doesn't want to bite the hand that feeds - all these spammy sites have ads or analytics that benefit Google.
dx034 5y ago
To be fair, w3schools and the like don't just copy content. They provide different information and, most importantly, present it differently from official docs. And for many, their way of presenting information may work better.
- hsbauauvhabzb 5y ago
  I acknowledge your opinion but still do not want to see that and several other spam sites over more official sources such as mdn.
triceratops 5y ago
The W3schools hate is a bit outdated. Even W3Fools[1] eventually backtracked and acknowledged that W3Schools has continuously improved and updated their content. 1. https://www.w3fools.com/ https://www.w3fools.com/

Closi 5y ago

I would assume this is easier if you are indexing more frequently and have been indexing for longer, and Google has more resources to allow them to crawl more often (another advantage to scale in search, which combined with other advantages of scale, is why Google has an effective monopoly IMO). If you recently started crawling you won't be able to detect which content was 'first', and if you don't crawl as frequently as google you are reliant on your crawl frequency being quicker than the 'content stealing' speed.

addingnumbers 5y ago
> if you don't crawl as frequently as google you are reliant on your crawl frequency being quicker than the 'content stealing' speed. No problem there. If a page hasn't been crawled, it won't be a search result.
- Closi 5y ago
  I mean you need to crawl often enough that you can determine which site stole content. If a full crawl of the web takes 3 months and A steals content from B after 2 weeks, it may not be possible to easily infer that A has stolen from B rather than visa-versa. If I crawl every week and see that A posted it on the first crawl, and B suddenly also had that content on the second crawl, I can infer that B stole from A.