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> Responding to a post on X, Google search liaison Danny Sullivan said users not only like seeing "forum content" but that they "proactively seek it out." Noth

by chomp 2y ago

> Responding to a post on X, Google search liaison Danny Sullivan said users not only like seeing "forum content" but that they "proactively seek it out." Nothing cures my imposter syndrome more than seeing so many Google employees completely fail to understand what is happening here. People aren’t tacking Reddit to queries because they particularly like Reddit or because they want to see user generated content, it’s because it is literally the only way to get a result from Google that is not spam listicles or affiliates grifts. They’re applying a bandaid to their rapidly deteriorating search, but championing it as giving the people what they want.

xcrunner529 2y ago
Yep. Google is mostly useless these days aside from a Reddit search because everything is fake.
- IshKebab 2y ago
  It's fine for things that people don't have a commercial interest in manipulating. But yeah for buying mainstream products (laptops, TVs, hoovers etc.) it's completely useless. Even Amazon reviews are better (at least in the UK; I understand they may be worse in America). Tbh I would not be surprised if spammers start posting LLM generated comments with affiliate links on Reddit. Maybe they already do.
  - rurp 2y ago
    These days I see mostly SEO spam articles for any topic that has even a modest amount of search traffic, commercial or not. Like if I search for how to do some random DIY home fix, or lookup information about a sort of niche topic, the front page will be 10 terribly written (likely automated) articles that all summarize the exact same points as each other. Clearly they have all copied from the same source. It's crazy how hard it has become to get Google search results from a human that put a bit of original thought into something.
- pyb 2y ago
  Not, it's because Google is promoting fake stuff.
CobrastanJorji 2y ago
And of course, this is only because the spammers filling the web with shit were focused on the greater web. If Google makes Reddit a major search result for regular searches, that shit hose will naturally begin to focus on Reddit as well, until eventually Reddit's quality content is equally hard to find, and then presumably the cycle will repeat with a new platform.
- pavon 2y ago
  Yes, that is why I would much rather Google promote Reddit than forums in general. If they did the latter, it would just encourage SEO spam to move from generating fake blogs to generating fake forums full of AI discussions, and cause product spam to focus even more on posting in forums (which is already a problem). The current arrangement requires a two-step search to find good forums on a subject, then search those forums for my question rather than have Google directly surface content from the forums when I search for my question. But the extra effort is worth it to keep forums from becoming SEO targets.
sylens 2y ago
Spot on. I seek out the Reddit result because it is the only valuable one left.
dageshi 2y ago
That's presumably because very few people will make new websites on subjects when they can make a youtube channel instead. The web has been hollowing out for a while, AI has just massively increased the speed of that process recently.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- tayo42 2y ago
  I don't get how people have so much time to watch amateur YouTube.
  - a_passable_dev 2y ago
    To be honest, I’d rather spend my limited free time watching amateur YouTube than watching a show on Netflix. No value judgement on either from my part, just my preference. As the parent of a special needs toddler with a busy work life, my personal free time is extremely limited, but when I do have it, it’s YouTube for me.
autoexec 2y ago
> People aren’t tacking Reddit to queries because they particularly like Reddit or because they want to see user generated content, it’s because it is literally the only way to get a result from Google that is not spam listicles or affiliates grifts. They’re applying a bandaid to their rapidly deteriorating search, but championing it as giving the people what they want. Google knows what they're doing. A long time ago they needed your internet searches to learn about you and what you were thinking. Today, they have an endless stream of data from your android phone, from chrome, from every website using google analytics, from their DNS servers, etc. They don't need their search engine to spy on you anymore so they aren't going to waste money making it not suck. Search is basically dead to them. They just have to keep up appearances so that they can keep selling ads and preferential placement to the very same companies/spammers that are pushing relevant content out of sight. Enjoy it while it lasts because Reddit will quickly fill with AI and ads and Google search will become entirely useless again.
asdff 2y ago
>They’re applying a bandaid to their rapidly deteriorating search, but championing it as giving the people what they want. You can't expect them to come out and say what you expect them to say here. Of course they are going to sell it like this.
unclebucknasty 2y ago
>so many Google employees completely fail to understand what is happening here. Oh, I think they know. Their assertion that they're "just giving people what they want" in pointing to Reddit is likely PR for "we know our search is awful so we're hardcoding some cheats".

by chomp 2y ago

xcrunner529 2y ago

Yep. Google is mostly useless these days aside from a Reddit search because everything is fake.

IshKebab 2y ago
It's fine for things that people don't have a commercial interest in manipulating. But yeah for buying mainstream products (laptops, TVs, hoovers etc.) it's completely useless. Even Amazon reviews are better (at least in the UK; I understand they may be worse in America). Tbh I would not be surprised if spammers start posting LLM generated comments with affiliate links on Reddit. Maybe they already do.
- rurp 2y ago
  These days I see mostly SEO spam articles for any topic that has even a modest amount of search traffic, commercial or not. Like if I search for how to do some random DIY home fix, or lookup information about a sort of niche topic, the front page will be 10 terribly written (likely automated) articles that all summarize the exact same points as each other. Clearly they have all copied from the same source. It's crazy how hard it has become to get Google search results from a human that put a bit of original thought into something.
pyb 2y ago
Not, it's because Google is promoting fake stuff.

CobrastanJorji 2y ago

And of course, this is only because the spammers filling the web with shit were focused on the greater web. If Google makes Reddit a major search result for regular searches, that shit hose will naturally begin to focus on Reddit as well, until eventually Reddit's quality content is equally hard to find, and then presumably the cycle will repeat with a new platform.

pavon 2y ago
Yes, that is why I would much rather Google promote Reddit than forums in general. If they did the latter, it would just encourage SEO spam to move from generating fake blogs to generating fake forums full of AI discussions, and cause product spam to focus even more on posting in forums (which is already a problem). The current arrangement requires a two-step search to find good forums on a subject, then search those forums for my question rather than have Google directly surface content from the forums when I search for my question. But the extra effort is worth it to keep forums from becoming SEO targets.

sylens 2y ago

Spot on. I seek out the Reddit result because it is the only valuable one left.

dageshi 2y ago

That's presumably because very few people will make new websites on subjects when they can make a youtube channel instead. The web has been hollowing out for a while, AI has just massively increased the speed of that process recently.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
tayo42 2y ago
I don't get how people have so much time to watch amateur YouTube.
- a_passable_dev 2y ago
  To be honest, I’d rather spend my limited free time watching amateur YouTube than watching a show on Netflix. No value judgement on either from my part, just my preference. As the parent of a special needs toddler with a busy work life, my personal free time is extremely limited, but when I do have it, it’s YouTube for me.

autoexec 2y ago

> People aren’t tacking Reddit to queries because they particularly like Reddit or because they want to see user generated content, it’s because it is literally the only way to get a result from Google that is not spam listicles or affiliates grifts. They’re applying a bandaid to their rapidly deteriorating search, but championing it as giving the people what they want. Google knows what they're doing. A long time ago they needed your internet searches to learn about you and what you were thinking. Today, they have an endless stream of data from your android phone, from chrome, from every website using google analytics, from their DNS servers, etc. They don't need their search engine to spy on you anymore so they aren't going to waste money making it not suck. Search is basically dead to them. They just have to keep up appearances so that they can keep selling ads and preferential placement to the very same companies/spammers that are pushing relevant content out of sight. Enjoy it while it lasts because Reddit will quickly fill with AI and ads and Google search will become entirely useless again.

asdff 2y ago

>They’re applying a bandaid to their rapidly deteriorating search, but championing it as giving the people what they want. You can't expect them to come out and say what you expect them to say here. Of course they are going to sell it like this.

unclebucknasty 2y ago

>so many Google employees completely fail to understand what is happening here. Oh, I think they know. Their assertion that they're "just giving people what they want" in pointing to Reddit is likely PR for "we know our search is awful so we're hardcoding some cheats".