3 ms·

Google should be surfacing things which paint google in a bad light?

by ta1243 4y ago

oarsinsync 4y ago
Why does an Android TV device requiring a Google account paint Google in a bad light? If I’m all-in on the Google/Android ecosystem, this is a positive! It works even better! The alternative is that the people behind the Nvidia Shield are intentionally user hostile / acting with malice, in cooperation with Google? The idea that the account requirement is positive or negative is a hugely subjective one. The fact is it’s needed. Whether it’s positive or negative is largely irrelevant. The fact should be surfaced.
rmellow 4y ago
It does. "Google search sucks" returns what you'd expect. What GP is getting at is that Google Search breaks down often when you're looking for a very specific result, but one that is uncommon enough. Instead, you're often diverted to a "related" query result without them telling you.
- visarga 4y ago
  If you search "What is the world record for crossing the English Channel entirely on foot?" Google would respond with swimming, boats, pedalling etc but miss the ones where people crossed on foot through the Channel Tunnel. An improbable search is almost impossible to do on Google. They will replace it with unrelated but similar results. Even when you specify a strong condition, it will just ignore it and return the exact opposite. It's no better than LLM hallucination. There are pairs of words that are very similar, but semantically different. Like "latitude" and "longitude" or "first name" and "last name". Google's model can't make fine distinctions between related (like latitude and longitude) and semantically equivalent (like last_name and family_name). You search for a semantic match, it will give you a related result that is exactly not matching your search.
mannykannot 4y ago
Google should be surfacing what its policies actually are, period. If those policies paint Google in a bad light, it should reconsider them, not be coy about them.
- ta1243 4y ago
  What is the business case for that?
gessha 4y ago
Search engines, even evil ones, should surface useful information.

Google should be surfacing things which paint google in a bad light?

by ta1243 4y ago

Google should be surfacing things which paint google in a bad light?

Why does an Android TV device requiring a Google account paint Google in a bad light? If I’m all-in on the Google/Android ecosystem, this is a positive! It works even better! The alternative is that the people behind the Nvidia Shield are intentionally user hostile / acting with malice, in cooperation with Google? The idea that the account requirement is positive or negative is a hugely subjective one. The fact is it’s needed. Whether it’s positive or negative is largely irrelevant. The fact should be surfaced.

rmellow 4y ago

It does. "Google search sucks" returns what you'd expect. What GP is getting at is that Google Search breaks down often when you're looking for a very specific result, but one that is uncommon enough. Instead, you're often diverted to a "related" query result without them telling you.

visarga 4y ago
If you search "What is the world record for crossing the English Channel entirely on foot?" Google would respond with swimming, boats, pedalling etc but miss the ones where people crossed on foot through the Channel Tunnel. An improbable search is almost impossible to do on Google. They will replace it with unrelated but similar results. Even when you specify a strong condition, it will just ignore it and return the exact opposite. It's no better than LLM hallucination. There are pairs of words that are very similar, but semantically different. Like "latitude" and "longitude" or "first name" and "last name". Google's model can't make fine distinctions between related (like latitude and longitude) and semantically equivalent (like last_name and family_name). You search for a semantic match, it will give you a related result that is exactly not matching your search.

mannykannot 4y ago

Google should be surfacing what its policies actually are, period. If those policies paint Google in a bad light, it should reconsider them, not be coy about them.

ta1243 4y ago
What is the business case for that?

gessha 4y ago

Search engines, even evil ones, should surface useful information.