4 ms·

Well, fortunately, I never click the "Ad" sponsored links and most of the time I don't see them anyways (uBlock). That doesn't help the other 90% of users onlin

Well, fortunately, I never click the "Ad" sponsored links and most of the time I don't see them anyways (uBlock). That doesn't help the other 90% of users online though.

jpmattia 4y ago
Like many here, I have a sysadmin side gig for my aging dad: uBlock is essentially required as anti-virus software. While it's great that google figured out how to monetize search by inserting ads, it was a lot more ethical back when their major demographic was geeks who could tell the difference between an ad link and a genuine result. Now? Not so much.
- capableweb 4y ago
  > it was a lot more ethical back when their major demographic was geeks who could tell the difference between an ad link and a genuine result I think the ads used to be more distinct as well, with a different background color even, if I remember correctly. I guess it's a fine line to walk between "It should be obvious what is advertisement" vs "Users should be confused enough to sometimes click the advertisement", and Google chose to go for the latter in order to raise click rates.
  - GeekyBear 4y ago
    Ads were not only a different color, they were also limited to the margins of the page and did not appear in the list of search results. As a matter of fact, when Google was the scrappy new underdog, they used to make fun of the legacy search engines for the practice of mixing ads into the list of search results.
    - ManuelKiessling 4y ago
      You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain…
      - deafpolygon 4y ago
        Or they were the second mystery final boss.
- marcosdumay 4y ago
  The ads used to be on the right bar, and selected by their site's relevance to your search. They were incredibly useful.
rcthompson 4y ago
Except when they do the thing where the real search results appear first, but then the ad pops in a split second later under your mouse right before you click.
- coldpie 4y ago
  Please install an ad blocker.
  - capableweb 4y ago
    Google shifts the content themselves as well sometimes, leading to misclicks. Try searching for "google chrome", click the link to "apps.apple.com", go backwards and try to quickly press the link below what you clicked on before, Google will scroll down a little "People also searched for" box that will surely be exactly where you wanted to click. This has frustrated me so many times, although its not really related to ads.

Well, fortunately, I never click the "Ad" sponsored links and most of the time I don't see them anyways (uBlock). That doesn't help the other 90% of users online though.

jpmattia 4y ago

Like many here, I have a sysadmin side gig for my aging dad: uBlock is essentially required as anti-virus software. While it's great that google figured out how to monetize search by inserting ads, it was a lot more ethical back when their major demographic was geeks who could tell the difference between an ad link and a genuine result. Now? Not so much.

capableweb 4y ago
> it was a lot more ethical back when their major demographic was geeks who could tell the difference between an ad link and a genuine result I think the ads used to be more distinct as well, with a different background color even, if I remember correctly. I guess it's a fine line to walk between "It should be obvious what is advertisement" vs "Users should be confused enough to sometimes click the advertisement", and Google chose to go for the latter in order to raise click rates.
- GeekyBear 4y ago
  Ads were not only a different color, they were also limited to the margins of the page and did not appear in the list of search results. As a matter of fact, when Google was the scrappy new underdog, they used to make fun of the legacy search engines for the practice of mixing ads into the list of search results.
  - ManuelKiessling 4y ago
    You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain…
    - deafpolygon 4y ago
      Or they were the second mystery final boss.
marcosdumay 4y ago
The ads used to be on the right bar, and selected by their site's relevance to your search. They were incredibly useful.

rcthompson 4y ago

Except when they do the thing where the real search results appear first, but then the ad pops in a split second later under your mouse right before you click.

coldpie 4y ago
Please install an ad blocker.
- capableweb 4y ago
  Google shifts the content themselves as well sometimes, leading to misclicks. Try searching for "google chrome", click the link to "apps.apple.com", go backwards and try to quickly press the link below what you clicked on before, Google will scroll down a little "People also searched for" box that will surely be exactly where you wanted to click. This has frustrated me so many times, although its not really related to ads.