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Im not sure where all of these cluttered Google search UI comments are coming from, this is what I see. Maybe a reality distortion field due to pent up HN Googl

Im not sure where all of these cluttered Google search UI comments are coming from, this is what I see. Maybe a reality distortion field due to pent up HN Google hate? Just a few icons in the top right off screen with my profile pic and configuration wheel icon you can't see. Things look fine. http://i.imgur.com/J9AqaQK.png http://i.imgur.com/J9AqaQK.png

barik 13y ago
Using a term like 'hn' isn't really a representative example, since it's unlikely that any advertising would be purchased for such a term or have any custom "knowledge panels". So, first, turn off AdBlock (if you hadn't already done so), then try a more representative query like "flowers": http://i.imgur.com/jsx1feJ.png http://i.imgur.com/jsx1feJ.png It's a big difference, and these different experiences with Google could just be a matter of which keywords people tend to use (e.g., very general vs. very targeted searches) and what extensions they chose to install in their browser.
- enneff 13y ago
  What result do you expect for something as vague as "flowers"? Try something like "flower delivery <your city>" or "hydrangea" to see a useful search result page.
  - Crito 13y ago
    I would expect a glorified redirect to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower That is what I expect for any search that is vague or generic. The results for "RTG" are pretty much my idea of what a set of results should look like. (Note that while DDG's results page for 'flowers' is cleaner, the actual results are similarly shit.)
    - RandallBrown 13y ago
      When I search google for "flower" the first result is the wikipedia page for flower. While you might want the wiki page for flower when you search "flowers" I think most people might actually want to order flowers.
      - Crito 13y ago
        That plural/singular makes a difference there is something that I would consider to be a fault. "Llamas" gives me the page for "llama". Why should "flower" and "flowers" give me radically different results? If I wanted to buy flowers I'd search "florist" or "online florist". The wiki page for florists is surely of far less interest than the page for flowers. I suspect the google/ddg results for "flowers" are a result of florists SEO'ing out the ass, not a reflection on what people are actually looking for when they search for things.
        enneff 13y ago
        More likely: Google have noticed users that search for "flowers" typically go on to search for "flower delivery", and started showing them results relevant to their intent. The Google result page for "flowers" also includes the wikipedia page for "Flower", btw.
        Crito 13y ago
        > "The Google result page for "flowers" also includes the wikipedia page for "Flower", btw." Yeah, but it is farther down the list. I have to search for it.
        saltysugar 13y ago
        Father? It's the second item on the list for me (and I use incognito)
        Crito 13y ago
        In incognito mode, it is 16th down the list for me, including ads and local results. Do you have an adblocker turned on or something?
    - tjpick 13y ago
      why don't you set your default search engine to wikipedia?
      - Crito 13y ago
        Because I want to see what I am missing.
    - enraged_camel 13y ago
      >>I would expect a glorified redirect to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower That is what I expect for any search that is vague or generic. If they wanted the wikipedia page, they would have performed the search directly on wikipedia. The question you have to ask is: what is the most likely thing they are looking to do? Is it to learn more about flowers (wikipedia) or is it to buy flowers (regular results with ads + map of nearby flower sellers)?
      - lugg 13y ago
        I dont think I've ever used wikipedia's search. I just google "term wiki"
      - Crito 13y ago
        I've already said that I believe the most likely thing they are looking for is the wikipedia page. How many times do people actually buy flowers? Once or twice a year? If they are doing it any more often than that, then they shouldn't need to google "flowers" each time....
        lmm 13y ago
        > If they are doing it any more often than that, then they shouldn't need to google "flowers" each time.... Why not? Computers are better at memorizing things than people; it shouldn't be a human's job to remember a site URL (and browser bookmarks are less useful than intelligent search engines).
        Crito 13y ago
        I imagine after a few times they would have a particular business or location in mind, and use google to search for that instead. For instance, if I googled "flowers" a few months ago and found "Joes Flower Shop in Seattle", if I wanted flowers again I would google "joes flowers seattle" instead of "flowers".
        enneff 13y ago
rlx0x 13y ago
Just an example: The tabs with Images, Videos etc. to the right of Web seem to be randomized. Sometimes Shopping comes before Images even. And then ofcourse the minor detail that the search results do not contain the actual fucking links of the results! I'm now using a greasemonkey script that fixes that. And thats not all I could go on and on, and don't even ask me about Youtube, Google sites have become just godawful.
est 13y ago
The think I hate most about the UI is URL hijack, URL hijack everywhere! The second most stupid thing is if you are behind or corporate LAN/VPN you have to type CAPTICHA to search. The last stupid thing is its UI design, where's the page cache link? how to limit search time range and order results by time?
- pestaa 13y ago
  To be fair, most search engines do not support filtering by date range and ordering. I know it was added to Google but then most features seem to be jumping around there.

barik 13y ago

Using a term like 'hn' isn't really a representative example, since it's unlikely that any advertising would be purchased for such a term or have any custom "knowledge panels". So, first, turn off AdBlock (if you hadn't already done so), then try a more representative query like "flowers": http://i.imgur.com/jsx1feJ.png http://i.imgur.com/jsx1feJ.png It's a big difference, and these different experiences with Google could just be a matter of which keywords people tend to use (e.g., very general vs. very targeted searches) and what extensions they chose to install in their browser.

enneff 13y ago
What result do you expect for something as vague as "flowers"? Try something like "flower delivery <your city>" or "hydrangea" to see a useful search result page.
- Crito 13y ago
  I would expect a glorified redirect to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower That is what I expect for any search that is vague or generic. The results for "RTG" are pretty much my idea of what a set of results should look like. (Note that while DDG's results page for 'flowers' is cleaner, the actual results are similarly shit.)
  - RandallBrown 13y ago
    When I search google for "flower" the first result is the wikipedia page for flower. While you might want the wiki page for flower when you search "flowers" I think most people might actually want to order flowers.
    - Crito 13y ago
      That plural/singular makes a difference there is something that I would consider to be a fault. "Llamas" gives me the page for "llama". Why should "flower" and "flowers" give me radically different results? If I wanted to buy flowers I'd search "florist" or "online florist". The wiki page for florists is surely of far less interest than the page for flowers. I suspect the google/ddg results for "flowers" are a result of florists SEO'ing out the ass, not a reflection on what people are actually looking for when they search for things.
      - enneff 13y ago
        More likely: Google have noticed users that search for "flowers" typically go on to search for "flower delivery", and started showing them results relevant to their intent. The Google result page for "flowers" also includes the wikipedia page for "Flower", btw.
        Crito 13y ago
        > "The Google result page for "flowers" also includes the wikipedia page for "Flower", btw." Yeah, but it is farther down the list. I have to search for it.
        saltysugar 13y ago
        Father? It's the second item on the list for me (and I use incognito)
        Crito 13y ago
        In incognito mode, it is 16th down the list for me, including ads and local results. Do you have an adblocker turned on or something?
  - tjpick 13y ago
    why don't you set your default search engine to wikipedia?
    - Crito 13y ago
      Because I want to see what I am missing.
  - enraged_camel 13y ago
    >>I would expect a glorified redirect to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower That is what I expect for any search that is vague or generic. If they wanted the wikipedia page, they would have performed the search directly on wikipedia. The question you have to ask is: what is the most likely thing they are looking to do? Is it to learn more about flowers (wikipedia) or is it to buy flowers (regular results with ads + map of nearby flower sellers)?
    - lugg 13y ago
      I dont think I've ever used wikipedia's search. I just google "term wiki"
    - Crito 13y ago
      I've already said that I believe the most likely thing they are looking for is the wikipedia page. How many times do people actually buy flowers? Once or twice a year? If they are doing it any more often than that, then they shouldn't need to google "flowers" each time....
      - lmm 13y ago
        > If they are doing it any more often than that, then they shouldn't need to google "flowers" each time.... Why not? Computers are better at memorizing things than people; it shouldn't be a human's job to remember a site URL (and browser bookmarks are less useful than intelligent search engines).
        Crito 13y ago
        I imagine after a few times they would have a particular business or location in mind, and use google to search for that instead. For instance, if I googled "flowers" a few months ago and found "Joes Flower Shop in Seattle", if I wanted flowers again I would google "joes flowers seattle" instead of "flowers".
        enneff 13y ago

rlx0x 13y ago

Just an example: The tabs with Images, Videos etc. to the right of Web seem to be randomized. Sometimes Shopping comes before Images even. And then ofcourse the minor detail that the search results do not contain the actual fucking links of the results! I'm now using a greasemonkey script that fixes that. And thats not all I could go on and on, and don't even ask me about Youtube, Google sites have become just godawful.

est 13y ago

The think I hate most about the UI is URL hijack, URL hijack everywhere! The second most stupid thing is if you are behind or corporate LAN/VPN you have to type CAPTICHA to search. The last stupid thing is its UI design, where's the page cache link? how to limit search time range and order results by time?

pestaa 13y ago
To be fair, most search engines do not support filtering by date range and ordering. I know it was added to Google but then most features seem to be jumping around there.