7 ms·

I'm no Google fanboy but what you are saying is a pretty strong accusation. Where is the data to back what you are claiming Google is doing?

sharkweek 13y ago
I'm not going to defend the overall conspiracy here but I totally buy into the theory that Google would prefer a big brand ranking over several small businesses... The logic in my mind is -- Google wants the rankings to be unequivocally trustworthy, e.g., if I'm searching for an espresso machine, would I trust a small ecommerce shop where the experience could be terrible or do we just throw an Amazon or Bed Bath and Beyond result at the top because those are vetted companies. Sure, the little guy has to grind to get a better ranking and free traffic, but it should in the long term encourage better behavior by companies as they attempt to earn that trust.
anon1385 13y ago
http://i.imgur.com/eBtzYic.png http://i.imgur.com/eBtzYic.png see any organic search results there?
- notatoad 13y ago
  this bullshit example gets trotted out every time somebody tries to prove this point, but it never gets any more relevant. yes, google shows a lot of ads for a vague, contextless search query. but nobody ever searches for anything so vague unless they're trying to prove how google search results are going down the toilet. if you search for the name of a category of information, it's impossible to know what aspect is relevant to you and you're either going to get ads or irrelevant results, and google has chosen to serve ads instead of irrelevant results.. try searching for bitcoin mining, bitcoin exchange, etc, and you'll see relevant results.
  - mehster 13y ago
    Try this one: flights from los angeles to las vegas Not sure if the organic results are relevant, because I can't see any.
- sharkweek 13y ago
  Yes -- http://i.imgur.com/vFwD9xr.png http://i.imgur.com/vFwD9xr.png
  - anon1385 13y ago
    Ads depend on your location etc. We have had a discussion about this same example before and plenty of people got similar results: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6533287 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6533287 e.g. http://i.imgur.com/mhJhc5W.png http://i.imgur.com/mhJhc5W.png and http://i.imgur.com/2iFv7Yf.png http://i.imgur.com/2iFv7Yf.png And for what it's worth, this is the result I got just now in the UK: http://i.imgur.com/YHXngwR.png http://i.imgur.com/YHXngwR.png
    - nonchalance 13y ago
      It could be because the plus500.co.uk is manifestly UK (and people saying otherwise are probably based in the US).
      - anon1385 13y ago
        Yes, it's just an example. I'm sure there are other terms that get more ads in the US than the UK. The point isn't this exact search term, it's that there are combinations of searches+locations that return pages where the entire of the visible page is filled with ads or google content and you have to scroll to see any real results at all.
    - polshaw 13y ago
      Interestingly I (also UK) got the same, except missing the ad about mining. Isn't this tailoring (presumably with some basis in the users' behaviour) a substantial part of what is increasing their revenues (thus share price)?
    - krelian 13y ago
      You are a showing a handpicked example which is disingenuous and not representative of real user experience. You decided to include a one-time cookie message that pushes down the content and not include the actual search results which are further down the page. FWIW the visitor that used this query got a clear answer to what bitcoin is and I'm pretty sure that any of the "small businesses" that are advertising in that spot are not deserving to be the first result for that query anyway so no conspiracy here.
- antsar 13y ago
  Just to show that sharkweek's reply isn't an outlier, here is the same search with adblock turned off, from a US address. http://i.imgur.com/Ed0UYER.png http://i.imgur.com/Ed0UYER.png
  - mh- 13y ago
    I see the same for that particular query, but have seen result pages that fit the mix of the original screenshot.
  - smtddr 13y ago
    me too! (California Bay Area) http://i.imgur.com/yaEh1xY.png http://i.imgur.com/yaEh1xY.png This is kinda fun. I'd like a website that showed screenshots of popular search-results on Google from across the world.
    - iamhungry 13y ago
      I get the same--but with ad blockers on
- ChrisClark 13y ago
  How did you get so many ads? Without adblock I see this: http://i.imgur.com/Djdz2wQ.png http://i.imgur.com/Djdz2wQ.png
  - psbp 13y ago
    It looks like a fake.
    - ChrisClark 13y ago
      Or he has malware that inserts ads into places trying to look legit. I'm surprised at how common that is. :(
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- CatMtKing 13y ago
  Google's profile of you probably adjusts the number of ad results that show up. If so, then if you use the service anonymously, you'd probably get the whole shebang.
iamhungry 13y ago
Data straight from Google's mouth. Their Google properties ad clicks increased by 22%, an astounding number when Adsense stayed flat. All ads above fold is a great steroid shot but horrible long term strategy.

sharkweek 13y ago

I'm not going to defend the overall conspiracy here but I totally buy into the theory that Google would prefer a big brand ranking over several small businesses... The logic in my mind is -- Google wants the rankings to be unequivocally trustworthy, e.g., if I'm searching for an espresso machine, would I trust a small ecommerce shop where the experience could be terrible or do we just throw an Amazon or Bed Bath and Beyond result at the top because those are vetted companies. Sure, the little guy has to grind to get a better ranking and free traffic, but it should in the long term encourage better behavior by companies as they attempt to earn that trust.

anon1385 13y ago

http://i.imgur.com/eBtzYic.png http://i.imgur.com/eBtzYic.png see any organic search results there?

notatoad 13y ago
this bullshit example gets trotted out every time somebody tries to prove this point, but it never gets any more relevant. yes, google shows a lot of ads for a vague, contextless search query. but nobody ever searches for anything so vague unless they're trying to prove how google search results are going down the toilet. if you search for the name of a category of information, it's impossible to know what aspect is relevant to you and you're either going to get ads or irrelevant results, and google has chosen to serve ads instead of irrelevant results.. try searching for bitcoin mining, bitcoin exchange, etc, and you'll see relevant results.
- mehster 13y ago
  Try this one: flights from los angeles to las vegas Not sure if the organic results are relevant, because I can't see any.
sharkweek 13y ago
Yes -- http://i.imgur.com/vFwD9xr.png http://i.imgur.com/vFwD9xr.png
- anon1385 13y ago
  Ads depend on your location etc. We have had a discussion about this same example before and plenty of people got similar results: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6533287 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6533287 e.g. http://i.imgur.com/mhJhc5W.png http://i.imgur.com/mhJhc5W.png and http://i.imgur.com/2iFv7Yf.png http://i.imgur.com/2iFv7Yf.png And for what it's worth, this is the result I got just now in the UK: http://i.imgur.com/YHXngwR.png http://i.imgur.com/YHXngwR.png
  - nonchalance 13y ago
    It could be because the plus500.co.uk is manifestly UK (and people saying otherwise are probably based in the US).
    - anon1385 13y ago
      Yes, it's just an example. I'm sure there are other terms that get more ads in the US than the UK. The point isn't this exact search term, it's that there are combinations of searches+locations that return pages where the entire of the visible page is filled with ads or google content and you have to scroll to see any real results at all.
  - polshaw 13y ago
    Interestingly I (also UK) got the same, except missing the ad about mining. Isn't this tailoring (presumably with some basis in the users' behaviour) a substantial part of what is increasing their revenues (thus share price)?
  - krelian 13y ago
    You are a showing a handpicked example which is disingenuous and not representative of real user experience. You decided to include a one-time cookie message that pushes down the content and not include the actual search results which are further down the page. FWIW the visitor that used this query got a clear answer to what bitcoin is and I'm pretty sure that any of the "small businesses" that are advertising in that spot are not deserving to be the first result for that query anyway so no conspiracy here.
antsar 13y ago
Just to show that sharkweek's reply isn't an outlier, here is the same search with adblock turned off, from a US address. http://i.imgur.com/Ed0UYER.png http://i.imgur.com/Ed0UYER.png
- mh- 13y ago
  I see the same for that particular query, but have seen result pages that fit the mix of the original screenshot.
- smtddr 13y ago
  me too! (California Bay Area) http://i.imgur.com/yaEh1xY.png http://i.imgur.com/yaEh1xY.png This is kinda fun. I'd like a website that showed screenshots of popular search-results on Google from across the world.
  - iamhungry 13y ago
    I get the same--but with ad blockers on
ChrisClark 13y ago
How did you get so many ads? Without adblock I see this: http://i.imgur.com/Djdz2wQ.png http://i.imgur.com/Djdz2wQ.png
- psbp 13y ago
  It looks like a fake.
  - ChrisClark 13y ago
    Or he has malware that inserts ads into places trying to look legit. I'm surprised at how common that is. :(
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
CatMtKing 13y ago
Google's profile of you probably adjusts the number of ad results that show up. If so, then if you use the service anonymously, you'd probably get the whole shebang.

iamhungry 13y ago

Data straight from Google's mouth. Their Google properties ad clicks increased by 22%, an astounding number when Adsense stayed flat. All ads above fold is a great steroid shot but horrible long term strategy.