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I, too, search "<search term> + reddit" often for product reviews and such. Thing is, the results on that front have started to slide as the paid review side of

by zucked 5y ago

I, too, search "<search term> + reddit" often for product reviews and such. Thing is, the results on that front have started to slide as the paid review side of the internet catches on. I'm finding that it's getting harder and harder to trust the reddit search results - lots of shill accounts and obvious junk. That's not a google problem, specifically, but it's another degradation of a workaround for declining search result quality :(

bee_rider 5y ago
The only real advantage of reddit is that somebody will usually be insulting the ad account, so you can hopefully glean some truth from the insults.
- Firmwarrior 5y ago
  Unless there's a critical mass of shills, and then anyone who speaks out against them will get banned and/or downvoted to oblivion..
  - tartuffe78 5y ago
    Usually I trust Reddit threads where users give pros/cons of multiple competing products. Things like running shoes users have usually tried a lot out and liked them for different reasons. If those match with the one pair I've tried out it seems like a useful data point for decision making.
Firmwarrior 5y ago
Yeah, a lot of subreddits are clogged with the same bad info that's gotten all over Google's front page. The stickied "list of recommendations" on an enthusiast sub is just the same as you'd get from clicking the top result of "Best X 2022" on Google, complete with affiliate links
propter_hoc 5y ago
Use "<search term> site:reddit.com". That will exclusively restrict you to results from reddit.
- zucked 5y ago
  That's not the point - the point is that paid shills are astroturfing reddit enthusiast subreddits, so that operator doesn't shield you at all. Once a hobbyist subreddit gets big enough, it attracts a lot of attention from shady types trying to capitalize on the captive audience. I've seen it happen numerous times (only when the offender is caught) in the /r/watches subreddit, the /r/overlanding subreddit, etc.

by zucked 5y ago

bee_rider 5y ago

The only real advantage of reddit is that somebody will usually be insulting the ad account, so you can hopefully glean some truth from the insults.

Firmwarrior 5y ago
Unless there's a critical mass of shills, and then anyone who speaks out against them will get banned and/or downvoted to oblivion..
- tartuffe78 5y ago
  Usually I trust Reddit threads where users give pros/cons of multiple competing products. Things like running shoes users have usually tried a lot out and liked them for different reasons. If those match with the one pair I've tried out it seems like a useful data point for decision making.

Firmwarrior 5y ago

Yeah, a lot of subreddits are clogged with the same bad info that's gotten all over Google's front page. The stickied "list of recommendations" on an enthusiast sub is just the same as you'd get from clicking the top result of "Best X 2022" on Google, complete with affiliate links

propter_hoc 5y ago

Use "<search term> site:reddit.com". That will exclusively restrict you to results from reddit.

zucked 5y ago
That's not the point - the point is that paid shills are astroturfing reddit enthusiast subreddits, so that operator doesn't shield you at all. Once a hobbyist subreddit gets big enough, it attracts a lot of attention from shady types trying to capitalize on the captive audience. I've seen it happen numerous times (only when the offender is caught) in the /r/watches subreddit, the /r/overlanding subreddit, etc.