3 ms·

Google has been lying about their search results [video]

37 points by tomcam 2y ago

janalsncm 2y ago
Why is it a bad thing if Google uses click rate and dwell time for ranking? It seems like those are pretty natural signals.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- ViktorRay 2y ago
  The point is that Google is being dishonest
- mgh2 2y ago
  This affects SEO "experts" and scammers. Define a metric and people will game it, how will bots and promoted content be filtered out now? A new set of problems. Slowly replacing Google with ChatGPT: https://medium.com/@trendguardian/a-new-search-engine-1f91a5c05ebb https://medium.com/@trendguardian/a-new-search-engine-1f91a5...
  - type0 2y ago
    Is ChatGPT a good replacement for SEO "experts"?
    - TheLoafOfBread 2y ago
      It could generate whole book of fluff around a simple question, which could be answered in one sentence
- ipaddr 2y ago
  Dwell time = longer on site the better. This promotes pointless articles around information you want. For example finding a recipe involves going through pages of the history of ingredients to get to the recipe. A successful search can be microseconds.
- nojs 2y ago
  Because it incentivises content that increases click rate and dwell time. Eg clickbait headlines and fluffy confusing content.
- bdjsiqoocwk 2y ago
  When a measure becomes the target, it ceases to be a good measure. Insert here some analogy with paying Indians for catching snakes.
leoh 2y ago
Towards the beginning, the video’s narrator jokes that Google’s efforts at secrecy are perhaps thwarted by employees that don’t know “how git commit works.” The sad truth is, well, this is often true. The amount of time my peers spent and the number of errors they made, when using git after being directed to begin a fresh project on GitHub instead of g3 was formidable; and broke all illusions I ever have had about Google engineers being in any way categorically superior to others. Google is, in the average case, so beyond past its prime; and so wildly ineffective at hiring that most of the place should be shut down. It really, truly, has become a joke. The fictional firm Hooli from “Silicon Valley” is scarcely more bizarre, confused, incompetent, and harmful than modern Google. And hey, if they did shut down most the place, they could stop fucking with search results because they just wouldn’t need so much money anymore. In an ideal world, Google would have regarded as an experiment. Its founders, investors, employees, and society would look at it critically and ask “what can we ascertain has been good and what has been harmful?” And, in my opinion anyways, everything except search, mail, g-suite, and a couple other things would be ended — including ads. With a more than minimal team, Google’s cash reserves would be more than sufficient to keep all that running for decades if not centuries to come.
aaron695 2y ago
[dead]

37 points by tomcam 2y ago

Why is it a bad thing if Google uses click rate and dwell time for ranking? It seems like those are pretty natural signals.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
ViktorRay 2y ago
The point is that Google is being dishonest
mgh2 2y ago
This affects SEO "experts" and scammers. Define a metric and people will game it, how will bots and promoted content be filtered out now? A new set of problems. Slowly replacing Google with ChatGPT: https://medium.com/@trendguardian/a-new-search-engine-1f91a5c05ebb https://medium.com/@trendguardian/a-new-search-engine-1f91a5...
- type0 2y ago
  Is ChatGPT a good replacement for SEO "experts"?
  - TheLoafOfBread 2y ago
    It could generate whole book of fluff around a simple question, which could be answered in one sentence
ipaddr 2y ago
Dwell time = longer on site the better. This promotes pointless articles around information you want. For example finding a recipe involves going through pages of the history of ingredients to get to the recipe. A successful search can be microseconds.
nojs 2y ago
Because it incentivises content that increases click rate and dwell time. Eg clickbait headlines and fluffy confusing content.
bdjsiqoocwk 2y ago
When a measure becomes the target, it ceases to be a good measure. Insert here some analogy with paying Indians for catching snakes.

leoh 2y ago

Towards the beginning, the video’s narrator jokes that Google’s efforts at secrecy are perhaps thwarted by employees that don’t know “how git commit works.” The sad truth is, well, this is often true. The amount of time my peers spent and the number of errors they made, when using git after being directed to begin a fresh project on GitHub instead of g3 was formidable; and broke all illusions I ever have had about Google engineers being in any way categorically superior to others. Google is, in the average case, so beyond past its prime; and so wildly ineffective at hiring that most of the place should be shut down. It really, truly, has become a joke. The fictional firm Hooli from “Silicon Valley” is scarcely more bizarre, confused, incompetent, and harmful than modern Google. And hey, if they did shut down most the place, they could stop fucking with search results because they just wouldn’t need so much money anymore. In an ideal world, Google would have regarded as an experiment. Its founders, investors, employees, and society would look at it critically and ask “what can we ascertain has been good and what has been harmful?” And, in my opinion anyways, everything except search, mail, g-suite, and a couple other things would be ended — including ads. With a more than minimal team, Google’s cash reserves would be more than sufficient to keep all that running for decades if not centuries to come.

aaron695 2y ago

[dead]