I'm sure locale matters. If you're in NYC, there's bound to be authoritive websites with the content you're looking for about almost anything you could possibly

I'm sure locale matters. If you're in NYC, there's bound to be authoritive websites with the content you're looking for about almost anything you could possibly want. But the further away you get from the US, the less this is the case. Though even in the US it largely holds for niche things. It's been a topic on HN for years, how Google has just stopped surfacing small websites with high quality information on a niche topic that can't be found elsewhere, but it's been greatly accelerated since last month. Are the shopping results you're seeing ranked higher not from authoritive websites (Amazon, Walmart et al)?