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Corollary: Web page creators are no longer interested in answering your query; they're interested in getting you to 1) view their page for ads 2) click on their
by nikanj 4y ago
Corollary: Web page creators are no longer interested in answering your query; they're interested in getting you to 1) view their page for ads 2) click on their affiliate links 3) buy the product they're selling.
Google has an impossible task in trying to answer a query like "Portable air mattress reviews", because 99.99999% of the results are SEO-optimized crap
- jeremyjh 4y agoWe don't know if the task is impossible because Google has no incentive to do it at all, so we can't assume they are really doing their best. They created this situation and they profit from it just the way it is.
- nikanj 4y agoBuild a better mouse trap etc, if the task was possible, DDG / Bing / Whoever could absolutely dominate the search market by providing a ”no crap results” option
- machiaweliczny 4y agoI wonder how hard would it be to create ML algorithms that can classify something as crappy content. I am pretty sure it should be quite doable.
- jeremyjh 4y agoThey would only bother to try if they could monetize it, and the only model for that which won't create the same incentives is paid user subscriptions. The market for that may just be way to small for the big guys to consider.
- metabagel 4y agoKagi is trying to build a better mouse trap. I quite like it. Open beta is coming along with subscription model. I will be a subscriber.
- darinf 4y agoCheck out Neeva. This is what we are all about.
- amf12 4y ago> We don't know if the task is impossible because Google has no incentive to do it at all, On the other hand, they have an incentive - increased competition, they can still monetize better pages, search is what makes them money.
- Nextgrid 4y ago> 1) view their page for ads 2) click on their affiliate links 3) buy the product they're selling. 1 and 2 are trivial to detect. 3 is harder but still not impossible given Google's machine learning capabilities and existing datasets. Downrank or ban ads & affiliate links and you remove any incentive for creating spam sites in the first place.
- nikanj 4y agoSo you’d downrank sites like Tom’s Hardware or wired.com? Both of which show ads and have affiliate links
- Nextgrid 4y agoIf other content that doesn’t have those annoyances matches my search query then I would absolutely want to see it first. This would also put pressure on content creators to tone down the ads or explore alternative monetization models.
- scarface74 4y agoDo you pay for Consumer Reports?
- Nextgrid 4y agoI paid for Which? which is the UK equivalent. Would've subscribed again when I needed it (and there's been a few times since) but their dark pattern upon unsubscription put me off from going anywhere near them again. I also spend 50£/month on Patreon to support the creators I watch regularly.
- brightball 4y agoThe problem is half the time the ads are Google ads anyway.
- Nextgrid 4y ago
- wutbrodo 4y agoThe top two organic results for that precise query are pretty informative articles from Wirecutter and Good Housekeeping. Unless I'm misunderstanding and you are expecting something better than this: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home-products/a25473658/best-air-mattress/ https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home-products/a25473658/bes...