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Does it seem, I'm not sure, ironic maybe? That the main example here is "An app that writes blog posts" - "Researches a topic and writes a blog post about it" -

Does it seem, I'm not sure, ironic maybe? That the main example here is "An app that writes blog posts" - "Researches a topic and writes a blog post about it" - that the company who helped champion the network effects of the internet and surface truly useful search results is now helping to destroy that very same thing they built their entire business on?

dleeftink 10mo ago
If they store both the generated content and the eventual indexed location, they could now filter search results more comprehensively based on content hashes.
luigi23 10mo ago
I dont think so. They also triggered SEO race where businesses pump out same bland blogposts to optimize ranking. Content made by humans for those companies was the only viable way at that time, and now new synthetic method emerges - whatever generates revenue will win. AI reels and tiktoks get views, so why bother with human generated content after the training on models have been done? Sad but true.
- kamranjon 10mo ago
  That's a good point, we had sort of the precursor to this already and yea likely driven by google themselves. It seems that every time incentives are aligned purely for profit we end up with situations like this where they inevitably run a good thing straight into the ground.
dlillard0 10mo ago
Yeah, helping to produce AI-generated garbage.
cdata 10mo ago
Arguably the ad business is to blame. It created a perverse incentive. They maximized pay-to-play. The losers were authors that previously published on a passion budget (and would/could never pay for ads). AI is just the last nail in the coffin.
cush 10mo ago
Google has already been single-handedly destroying the internet for over a decade by turning into an ad-ridden mess
- echelon 10mo ago
  We've had 25 years to regulate them or break them up. It's our own fault for under-regulation.
  - PlanksVariable 10mo ago
    Perhaps we should look to Europe for inspiration on how to govern tech companies.
  - ThatMedicIsASpy 10mo ago
    It is never too late to make user tracking illegal and destroying the nastiest part of the ad industry
    - echelon 10mo ago
      We could break their back if we required them to respect trademarks. Google captured the browser with 92+% "browser -> search" funnel market share. They turned the URL bar into "search", meaning that the method of finding trademarked companies and products now flows through a competitive bidding marketplace where competitors can slide in front of your hard-earned brand. This ought to be illegal.
  - cush 9mo ago
    You’re using “we” very liberally
- PlanksVariable 10mo ago
  Funny, I remember the Internet from over a decade (or two) ago and it was a mess of full-screen ads, seizure-inducing animations, infinite popups, etc. that Google helped eliminate.
jeswin 10mo ago
> that the company who helped champion the network effects of the internet and surface truly useful search results... The amount of data on the web crossed the threshold of organic discoverability some time before the AI boom started. AI makes it go from really bad to really, really bad (99% to 99.99%). As far as I am concerned it doesn't change anything. The same mechanisms to find good content would work today as well - following humans and networks.
CobrastanJorji 10mo ago
Different teams. This AI team at Google cares not for the health of the web. They barely remember that Google has a search engine, except of course for the groudbreaking AI search results which are responsible for many large numbers for use in annual reviews. This team's goal is to sell their AI solution, and if that means demonstrating its ability to generate tools that create crap content that harms the search engine results, well, I'm sure another AI solution can probably combat that later.
- troupo 10mo ago
  > This AI team at Google cares not for the health of the web. They barely remember that Google has a search engine Neithet do any teams at Google, including the search teams. Google is an ad company with 80% of its revenue coming from ads. They couldn't give two shits about the health of the web. The man who killed Google search was a minor hit when it was published: https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-men-who-killed-google/ https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-men-who-killed-google/
  - oneeyedpigeon 10mo ago
    That contradicts the long-standing claim that Google does care about as many people using as good a WWW as possible. A ghost town has plenty of ad space, but not much ad revenue.
    - troupo 10mo ago
      Don't look at what a company claims. Look at what the company does.
  - faust201 10mo ago
    By that logic no company cares about anything but profits.
    - binary132 10mo ago
      You say that like it’s this big contradiction of some obvious truth, so go on, tell us about this company you know of that Really Cares.

dleeftink 10mo ago

If they store both the generated content and the eventual indexed location, they could now filter search results more comprehensively based on content hashes.

luigi23 10mo ago

I dont think so. They also triggered SEO race where businesses pump out same bland blogposts to optimize ranking. Content made by humans for those companies was the only viable way at that time, and now new synthetic method emerges - whatever generates revenue will win. AI reels and tiktoks get views, so why bother with human generated content after the training on models have been done? Sad but true.

kamranjon 10mo ago
That's a good point, we had sort of the precursor to this already and yea likely driven by google themselves. It seems that every time incentives are aligned purely for profit we end up with situations like this where they inevitably run a good thing straight into the ground.

dlillard0 10mo ago

Yeah, helping to produce AI-generated garbage.

cdata 10mo ago

Arguably the ad business is to blame. It created a perverse incentive. They maximized pay-to-play. The losers were authors that previously published on a passion budget (and would/could never pay for ads). AI is just the last nail in the coffin.

cush 10mo ago

Google has already been single-handedly destroying the internet for over a decade by turning into an ad-ridden mess

echelon 10mo ago
We've had 25 years to regulate them or break them up. It's our own fault for under-regulation.
- PlanksVariable 10mo ago
  Perhaps we should look to Europe for inspiration on how to govern tech companies.
- ThatMedicIsASpy 10mo ago
  It is never too late to make user tracking illegal and destroying the nastiest part of the ad industry
  - echelon 10mo ago
    We could break their back if we required them to respect trademarks. Google captured the browser with 92+% "browser -> search" funnel market share. They turned the URL bar into "search", meaning that the method of finding trademarked companies and products now flows through a competitive bidding marketplace where competitors can slide in front of your hard-earned brand. This ought to be illegal.
- cush 9mo ago
  You’re using “we” very liberally
PlanksVariable 10mo ago
Funny, I remember the Internet from over a decade (or two) ago and it was a mess of full-screen ads, seizure-inducing animations, infinite popups, etc. that Google helped eliminate.

jeswin 10mo ago

> that the company who helped champion the network effects of the internet and surface truly useful search results... The amount of data on the web crossed the threshold of organic discoverability some time before the AI boom started. AI makes it go from really bad to really, really bad (99% to 99.99%). As far as I am concerned it doesn't change anything. The same mechanisms to find good content would work today as well - following humans and networks.

CobrastanJorji 10mo ago

Different teams. This AI team at Google cares not for the health of the web. They barely remember that Google has a search engine, except of course for the groudbreaking AI search results which are responsible for many large numbers for use in annual reviews. This team's goal is to sell their AI solution, and if that means demonstrating its ability to generate tools that create crap content that harms the search engine results, well, I'm sure another AI solution can probably combat that later.

troupo 10mo ago
> This AI team at Google cares not for the health of the web. They barely remember that Google has a search engine Neithet do any teams at Google, including the search teams. Google is an ad company with 80% of its revenue coming from ads. They couldn't give two shits about the health of the web. The man who killed Google search was a minor hit when it was published: https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-men-who-killed-google/ https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-men-who-killed-google/
- oneeyedpigeon 10mo ago
  That contradicts the long-standing claim that Google does care about as many people using as good a WWW as possible. A ghost town has plenty of ad space, but not much ad revenue.
  - troupo 10mo ago
    Don't look at what a company claims. Look at what the company does.
- faust201 10mo ago
  By that logic no company cares about anything but profits.
  - binary132 10mo ago
    You say that like it’s this big contradiction of some obvious truth, so go on, tell us about this company you know of that Really Cares.