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Ask HN: Why does Google shopping showcase scams?
Search Google shopping for 4090 RTX graphics cards and you'll get suggestions like https://pricklycomb.com/product/palit-geforce-rtx-4090-gamerock-24gb/
The card is way below price of retail on this site. Quickly searching for background about this site shows multiple reports that it's a scam https://www.google.com/search?q=is+pricklycomb.com+legit&oq=is+pricklycomb.com+legit
I've noticed this a lot with other searches for high end equipment. So why does Google shopping index and showcase scams sites?
- AzzyHN 3y agoGoogle also sells advertising spots to vendors of PUPs who will make the ad look like a fake download button. With their scale, it's impossible to manually sift through and fine tune the results.
- Finnucane 3y agoThey're probably assuming, or at least their advertisers are assuming, that anyone who would trust Google for anything at this point is a potential mark.
- 8organicbits 3y agoGoogle is full of these problems. They refuse to properly review content in favor of automation. As such, Google is a low reputation site. Don't use it if you're not willing or able to wade through spam and malware. Lots of alternatives exist for each of Googles products.
- cloudking 3y agoWhat are some good alternatives to Google Shopping? I'm looking for a meta search that will find the best deals across the web, but from legit sites only.
- 8organicbits 3y agoI mostly avoid online shopping, so I'm unsure there, but others may have suggestions.
- speedgoose 3y agoPrisjakt.no in Norway.
- carlosjobim 3y agoWhy not? That's the question you should ask. Why not? About 50% of ads on Instagram and Facebook are pure scams, ie you'll pay for a product and they'll just take your money and you never hear from them again. Why not scam as many people as possible, even if you're a huge company like Google or Meta? It's not like people are going to switch to more honest services, they don't care even if they're the victim.
- BorisMelnik 3y agoeither the algo or user reports will slap them if it is truly a scam. it is easy to setup an adwords account and scamming people, a bit harder to keep it running for a long time.