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I am so sick and tired of sites that have a bunch of filler content in them just to appear higher in search results. You search for something, say "How to chang

I am so sick and tired of sites that have a bunch of filler content in them just to appear higher in search results. You search for something, say "How to change a light bulb" and you get all this front loading with sections on "what is a light bulb?" "Why do light bulbs need changing?" "Picking a light bulb" and then finally the answer. Maybe a search engine that could prioritize getting to the point would be good.

skilled 4y ago
I mean, I have seen some really funky articles relating to what you said - articles that are ranking on page one. I was looking up some niche stuff in JavaScript space, and the article started out with a sentence: "An increasing number of developers are looking to get started with web development. And because of this, they are searching to get started with <a fairly complex topic to grasp for a beginner>." Sooo.... developers are looking to get started with development... And like you say, the same goes for all the "What is a <topic>" - feels like a fundamental error on Google's part for parsing language intent.
rchaud 4y ago
Basic queries like "how to change a light bulb" are better answered on Youtube; it's not 1995 anymore, a web page explaining that with text and pictures is slower than creating a video. The only ones still writing web pages for things like that are trying to sell you something. If they weren't, they'd also just make a video.
- albrewer 4y ago
  > Basic queries like "how to change a light bulb" are better answered on Youtube Hard disagree. If the best content for the problem is a video, then sure, bubble that up to the top of the search results. But to limit yourself to only one medium is ridiculous.
- juve1996 4y ago
  Completely disagree. Videos take forever. Often times I have a specific query and text is easier to search than information within videos.
- tofuahdude 4y ago
  "better for you" != "better for everyone" People have very different preferences in the format of content they consume.
- jccalhoun 4y ago
  it may be faster to create a video but it is faster for me to skim through and read and determine if it is relevant than it is to sit through a preroll ad, skim through the video, wait for the video to load, find the part that is relevant but I skipped ahead into the middle, so I have to skip back and wait for that to load again, then a midroll ad shows up. ugh.
byteduck 4y ago
I've found that DDG (and by some extension, Bing) seems to do a little bit better at this. But, the only search engine I've found that actually does a good job at this is Kagi. It's really good at filtering out those SEO spam articles, and even separates out stuff like listicles when it's not what you're looking for.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

skilled 4y ago

I mean, I have seen some really funky articles relating to what you said - articles that are ranking on page one. I was looking up some niche stuff in JavaScript space, and the article started out with a sentence: "An increasing number of developers are looking to get started with web development. And because of this, they are searching to get started with <a fairly complex topic to grasp for a beginner>." Sooo.... developers are looking to get started with development... And like you say, the same goes for all the "What is a <topic>" - feels like a fundamental error on Google's part for parsing language intent.

rchaud 4y ago

Basic queries like "how to change a light bulb" are better answered on Youtube; it's not 1995 anymore, a web page explaining that with text and pictures is slower than creating a video. The only ones still writing web pages for things like that are trying to sell you something. If they weren't, they'd also just make a video.

albrewer 4y ago
> Basic queries like "how to change a light bulb" are better answered on Youtube Hard disagree. If the best content for the problem is a video, then sure, bubble that up to the top of the search results. But to limit yourself to only one medium is ridiculous.
juve1996 4y ago
Completely disagree. Videos take forever. Often times I have a specific query and text is easier to search than information within videos.
tofuahdude 4y ago
"better for you" != "better for everyone" People have very different preferences in the format of content they consume.
jccalhoun 4y ago
it may be faster to create a video but it is faster for me to skim through and read and determine if it is relevant than it is to sit through a preroll ad, skim through the video, wait for the video to load, find the part that is relevant but I skipped ahead into the middle, so I have to skip back and wait for that to load again, then a midroll ad shows up. ugh.

byteduck 4y ago

I've found that DDG (and by some extension, Bing) seems to do a little bit better at this. But, the only search engine I've found that actually does a good job at this is Kagi. It's really good at filtering out those SEO spam articles, and even separates out stuff like listicles when it's not what you're looking for.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]