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None. Heck, I can’t even search my gmail effectively any more, so if they can’t maintain a core product, I doubt they can build a new one of any quality. alphab

None. Heck, I can’t even search my gmail effectively any more, so if they can’t maintain a core product, I doubt they can build a new one of any quality. alphabet are now just a big, bloated catch-up corporation running on inertia and past glory. I don’t think they will exist in 10 years.

Tyr42 3y ago
Gmail dev here (but not search), I don't think anything has changed with search. Operators still work too. What's actually wrong? Do you just have more email now?
- ec109685 3y ago
  If you don’t match the terms in your email exactly right with your query, gmail starts returning email that matches one of the terms which is rarely what you want.
  - ddalex 3y ago
    What would you expect it to do? How is it supposed to know what you want if you don't provide it with the exact search terms? Shouldn't it do partial matches if there are no full matches ?
    - ec109685 3y ago
      It should look for things that match the meaning of the words searched. E.g. what’s possible with embedding where the query terms are matched with similar messages that mean the same thing.
jeodjdodh 3y ago
> code product gmail is a freebie! the core product is how they index your messages to create an anonymous profile that they will then offer on reverse bid to advertisers when you do a search or visits an AdWords site.
endisneigh 3y ago
Someone who believes Google won’t exist in 10 years is delusional beyond words.
- htss2013 3y ago
  If you believe this it implies you have gone full malthusian, because the innovation engine that made Google possible could also disappear Google, but without that engine we are all screwed.
- madaxe_again 3y ago
  Yes yes, and the East India Company will reign supreme for all time, Refco is too important to fail, Blockbuster will dominate home entertainment forever, and it’s simply inconceivable that a single trader could bring down Baring Brothers, they’ve been going for centuries! Businesses fail. google will likely still exist, but alphabet, I don’t see a future for - just a gradual withering followed by a collapse and disintegration into myriad properties in a fire sale. They are brittle, overburdened by unity of disparity, culturally adrift, and they aren’t taking risks any more. Inertia will keep it all going for a while, but not forever. Sure, I may be wrong, but I do put my money where my mouth is, and I am right more often than not.
  - shubb 3y ago
    Your reply is interesting because you strongly believe alphabet will fail but only supported that by arguing that over the very long term so companies fail. I see a lot of hate for alphabet on HN. It seems very emotional. I think people feel personally betrayed by thier bad behaviours because they were 'supposed to be better'. The thing is, there are a lot of companies you can hate. Exon, mcdonalds, blackrock, even Microsoft, there are people who are very mad at these companies. That's not an argument that the company is doomed. If you are really putting your money where your mouth is (what shorting google?) Then I hope you have a better reasoning as to why they will fail not just eventually but this year.
    - madaxe_again 3y ago
whywhywhywhy 3y ago
>None. Heck, I can’t even search my gmail effectively any more Their search products have actually gotten worse with AI. Google Images running just off basic image recognition (as in is this the same image) and the context of where they found it was far superior at identifying what an image is than ML Google Image. The OG version could identify a frame from a movie and provide higher res versions. The ML version goes “errr looks like a woman on a street, here are random photos of unrelated women on unrelated streets with maybe a similar color scheme” close to useless why would anyone want that. Yandex Image search blows it out of the water simply by being Google Image Search from a decade ago
- adql 3y ago
  I thought I imagined it being worse but yeah...
- madaxe_again 3y ago
  This is the kind of stuff that I see as being the crux of their downfall. Snippets have also gone to pot over the last year or so. The overall theme is that product is no longer the focus, but rather navel-gazing - that’s to say, their internal world no longer aligns with the external world, and that is a fundamentally dangerous place for a business.

Tyr42 3y ago

Gmail dev here (but not search), I don't think anything has changed with search. Operators still work too. What's actually wrong? Do you just have more email now?

ec109685 3y ago
If you don’t match the terms in your email exactly right with your query, gmail starts returning email that matches one of the terms which is rarely what you want.
- ddalex 3y ago
  What would you expect it to do? How is it supposed to know what you want if you don't provide it with the exact search terms? Shouldn't it do partial matches if there are no full matches ?
  - ec109685 3y ago
    It should look for things that match the meaning of the words searched. E.g. what’s possible with embedding where the query terms are matched with similar messages that mean the same thing.

jeodjdodh 3y ago

> code product gmail is a freebie! the core product is how they index your messages to create an anonymous profile that they will then offer on reverse bid to advertisers when you do a search or visits an AdWords site.

endisneigh 3y ago

Someone who believes Google won’t exist in 10 years is delusional beyond words.

htss2013 3y ago
If you believe this it implies you have gone full malthusian, because the innovation engine that made Google possible could also disappear Google, but without that engine we are all screwed.
madaxe_again 3y ago
Yes yes, and the East India Company will reign supreme for all time, Refco is too important to fail, Blockbuster will dominate home entertainment forever, and it’s simply inconceivable that a single trader could bring down Baring Brothers, they’ve been going for centuries! Businesses fail. google will likely still exist, but alphabet, I don’t see a future for - just a gradual withering followed by a collapse and disintegration into myriad properties in a fire sale. They are brittle, overburdened by unity of disparity, culturally adrift, and they aren’t taking risks any more. Inertia will keep it all going for a while, but not forever. Sure, I may be wrong, but I do put my money where my mouth is, and I am right more often than not.
- shubb 3y ago
  Your reply is interesting because you strongly believe alphabet will fail but only supported that by arguing that over the very long term so companies fail. I see a lot of hate for alphabet on HN. It seems very emotional. I think people feel personally betrayed by thier bad behaviours because they were 'supposed to be better'. The thing is, there are a lot of companies you can hate. Exon, mcdonalds, blackrock, even Microsoft, there are people who are very mad at these companies. That's not an argument that the company is doomed. If you are really putting your money where your mouth is (what shorting google?) Then I hope you have a better reasoning as to why they will fail not just eventually but this year.
  - madaxe_again 3y ago

whywhywhywhy 3y ago

>None. Heck, I can’t even search my gmail effectively any more Their search products have actually gotten worse with AI. Google Images running just off basic image recognition (as in is this the same image) and the context of where they found it was far superior at identifying what an image is than ML Google Image. The OG version could identify a frame from a movie and provide higher res versions. The ML version goes “errr looks like a woman on a street, here are random photos of unrelated women on unrelated streets with maybe a similar color scheme” close to useless why would anyone want that. Yandex Image search blows it out of the water simply by being Google Image Search from a decade ago

adql 3y ago
I thought I imagined it being worse but yeah...
madaxe_again 3y ago
This is the kind of stuff that I see as being the crux of their downfall. Snippets have also gone to pot over the last year or so. The overall theme is that product is no longer the focus, but rather navel-gazing - that’s to say, their internal world no longer aligns with the external world, and that is a fundamentally dangerous place for a business.