4 ms·

I don't have access to any data that supports my vibes, but it just feels like any business that sells stuff has very little incentive to actually give you what

I don't have access to any data that supports my vibes, but it just feels like any business that sells stuff has very little incentive to actually give you what you're searching for. I can't think of a single online store that's good at search and it seems like it's because the thought is "don't miss anything that might come close to the search terms". Whether it's Amazon, IKEA, the supermarkets where I live, etc, any search I make comes back with what looks like spray and pray SEO. Maybe it's actually a hard problem to solve, or maybe the goal is "sell anything!" (including better placement the seller pays for) rather than "give the user what they want".

whilenot-dev 1y ago
Probably the virtual variant of the Gruen effect in action: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruen_transfer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruen_transfer Fortunately we still have Geizhals in AT[0]/DE[1]/PL[2]/UK[3] to work around that. [0]: https://geizhals.at/ https://geizhals.at/ [1]: https://geizhals.de/ https://geizhals.de/ [2]: https://cenowarka.pl/ https://cenowarka.pl/ [3]: https://skinflint.co.uk/ https://skinflint.co.uk/
- rkomorn 1y ago
  Yeah. I kinda regret my comment 'cause it's not like I've stumbled into some discovery of human behavior no one else thought about. :) I just felt a little tangy/pontificaty.
- acka 1y ago
  Important addition: Geizhals for the entire EU [1], not just focused on Germany, Austria, or the UK. [1] https://geizhals.eu/ https://geizhals.eu/
0xEF 1y ago
It's the "sell anything" goal, which is a direct result of the larger "growth at all costs" goal, the cancer that is enshittifying everything.
distances 1y ago
Ikea is different though: they only sell their own products so there's so earning incentives from paid product placement. Of course they want to improve their own sales but I feel that's a very different, less nefarious goal.
- rkomorn 1y ago
  I think it's ultimately the same, though: they're not optimizing for you to get what you're looking for. At the same time, I know it's a hard problem to solve. Users also aren't good at finding what they want either.

whilenot-dev 1y ago

Probably the virtual variant of the Gruen effect in action: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruen_transfer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruen_transfer Fortunately we still have Geizhals in AT[0]/DE[1]/PL[2]/UK[3] to work around that. [0]: https://geizhals.at/ https://geizhals.at/ [1]: https://geizhals.de/ https://geizhals.de/ [2]: https://cenowarka.pl/ https://cenowarka.pl/ [3]: https://skinflint.co.uk/ https://skinflint.co.uk/

rkomorn 1y ago
Yeah. I kinda regret my comment 'cause it's not like I've stumbled into some discovery of human behavior no one else thought about. :) I just felt a little tangy/pontificaty.
acka 1y ago
Important addition: Geizhals for the entire EU [1], not just focused on Germany, Austria, or the UK. [1] https://geizhals.eu/ https://geizhals.eu/

0xEF 1y ago

It's the "sell anything" goal, which is a direct result of the larger "growth at all costs" goal, the cancer that is enshittifying everything.

distances 1y ago

Ikea is different though: they only sell their own products so there's so earning incentives from paid product placement. Of course they want to improve their own sales but I feel that's a very different, less nefarious goal.

rkomorn 1y ago
I think it's ultimately the same, though: they're not optimizing for you to get what you're looking for. At the same time, I know it's a hard problem to solve. Users also aren't good at finding what they want either.