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I think that is the worst reason for them to rewrite titles. If they left the title as-is, then I would be able to see in the search results that it was a spamm

by pavon 5y ago

I think that is the worst reason for them to rewrite titles. If they left the title as-is, then I would be able to see in the search results that it was a spammy site and ignore it. Instead Google is helping to launder their SEO and present it as a more legitimate site. If Google thinks a site is gaming their algorithms they should de-prioritize it, not rewrite it.

ashudeep 5y ago
+1
lelandfe 5y ago
"Gaming their algorithm" sounds like a fancy way of saying SEO. If Google can produce for me a more accurate (or concise) title, it should only help me find what I'm looking for. Forcing folks to trudge through inaccurate titles – or hoping people know the tells of a "spammy site" title – does not seem a better alternative.
- withinboredom 5y ago
  My favorite is when the title sounds like what you’re looking for only to discover it’s a page full of ads and keywords. The original title doesn’t even match. That causes me to lose faith in google not a better experience.
  - lelandfe 5y ago
    If that actually happens, I'm surprised the article doesn't cover it. I've never experienced that.
    - withinboredom 5y ago
      I’ve found it most on the 2nd or 3rd page when googling specific but not common error messages.
- addingnumbers 5y ago
  > "Gaming their algorithm" sounds like a fancy way of saying SEO It's quite the opposite, "Search Engine Optimization" is the fancy euphemism for gaming the algorithm.
stickfigure 5y ago
I think you've got this wrong - they should heavily editorialize the titles. Honest titles of search results: * Five pages of flowery text and images before two lines of instruction on how to boil rice * A bunch of tantalizing pictures of exactly what you're looking for but zero further information about it * Product reviews machine-generated from public review sources with affiliate links. Top-rated product has the best affiliate revenue. * You won't care about this solution to a problem you don't have. etc...
- sosuke 5y ago
  This sounds like it would make a very entertaining Chrome extension.
- dheera 5y ago
  Would also be nice if they edited things to actually be true, e.g. * e-bike with 10 miles of actual range even though they advertise 30 miles * laptop with 2 hours of battery life at 100% CPU usage even though they advertise 10 hours * median $450 flight even though they advertise it as $199
  - golemiprague 5y ago
  - Spivak 5y ago
    > laptop with 2 hours of battery life at 100% CPU usage Is there any laptop on the market that lives up to this. Even top specced MBPs I've gotten from work fall down when you actually use the CPU with compilers and VMs.
    - hetspookjee 5y ago
      My simple M1 mpb 16gb seems to work for almost 2 hours when hammering the cpu. Haven’t timed it actually but I find it astonishing compared to the Dell mess I’ve had to deal with before.
    - 5y ago
mostdataisnice 5y ago
I think what HN and the SWE community at large has just missed about Google over the last 10 years is that the product is being built for the masses. Most people would prefer if you just rewrote the title to what it actually was rather than having to take on the cognitive load of understanding what SEO even is.
maxrebich 5y ago
AMEN to that

by pavon 5y ago

ashudeep 5y ago

lelandfe 5y ago

"Gaming their algorithm" sounds like a fancy way of saying SEO. If Google can produce for me a more accurate (or concise) title, it should only help me find what I'm looking for. Forcing folks to trudge through inaccurate titles – or hoping people know the tells of a "spammy site" title – does not seem a better alternative.

withinboredom 5y ago
My favorite is when the title sounds like what you’re looking for only to discover it’s a page full of ads and keywords. The original title doesn’t even match. That causes me to lose faith in google not a better experience.
- lelandfe 5y ago
  If that actually happens, I'm surprised the article doesn't cover it. I've never experienced that.
  - withinboredom 5y ago
    I’ve found it most on the 2nd or 3rd page when googling specific but not common error messages.
addingnumbers 5y ago
> "Gaming their algorithm" sounds like a fancy way of saying SEO It's quite the opposite, "Search Engine Optimization" is the fancy euphemism for gaming the algorithm.

stickfigure 5y ago

I think you've got this wrong - they should heavily editorialize the titles. Honest titles of search results: * Five pages of flowery text and images before two lines of instruction on how to boil rice * A bunch of tantalizing pictures of exactly what you're looking for but zero further information about it * Product reviews machine-generated from public review sources with affiliate links. Top-rated product has the best affiliate revenue. * You won't care about this solution to a problem you don't have. etc...

sosuke 5y ago
This sounds like it would make a very entertaining Chrome extension.
dheera 5y ago
Would also be nice if they edited things to actually be true, e.g. * e-bike with 10 miles of actual range even though they advertise 30 miles * laptop with 2 hours of battery life at 100% CPU usage even though they advertise 10 hours * median $450 flight even though they advertise it as $199
- golemiprague 5y ago
- Spivak 5y ago
  > laptop with 2 hours of battery life at 100% CPU usage Is there any laptop on the market that lives up to this. Even top specced MBPs I've gotten from work fall down when you actually use the CPU with compilers and VMs.
  - hetspookjee 5y ago
    My simple M1 mpb 16gb seems to work for almost 2 hours when hammering the cpu. Haven’t timed it actually but I find it astonishing compared to the Dell mess I’ve had to deal with before.
  - 5y ago

mostdataisnice 5y ago

I think what HN and the SWE community at large has just missed about Google over the last 10 years is that the product is being built for the masses. Most people would prefer if you just rewrote the title to what it actually was rather than having to take on the cognitive load of understanding what SEO even is.

maxrebich 5y ago

AMEN to that