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It seems like this is a great example of the problem that Google faces. They have built up a good product line based off of the revenue from search and those pr
by zarriak 12y ago
It seems like this is a great example of the problem that Google faces. They have built up a good product line based off of the revenue from search and those products support search in turn by providing content and/or more opportunities for interactions(read advertising money). This in turn takes away from the sites that they are listing, making them the lifeline and the competition at the same time. The problem is making a search engine has evolved from listing the best websites for the user's request, it is about providing information as easy and quickly as possible. This optimization in turn takes away from sites dedicated to relaying that information. It makes Google seem as they are practicing monopolistic business, but they are really just trying to improve their product.
It appears as if resolution can only come from splitting up the search part of the company with the rest (assuming it is split into only two entities). I think Google can resolve this by splitting up the knowledge graph results from the rest of search by making the feeling lucky button analogous to showing only what knowledge graph and information cards. They still would have a very dominant share of search, mobile, etc. but it would alleviate the connection of Google the search engine provider and Google the 21st century thesaurus.
- shostack 12y agoThe other ironic factor is that Google derives revenue from many of these sites in the form of AdSense revenue (or Search Partner Network and Ad Exchange inventory). So many intangible factors here. A big one being "does improving the overall search experience by providing the most relevant results in the SERP outweigh the opportunity cost of the lost display revenue?" I wonder how this game will play out though since well-optimized sites tend to be very careful with what they put in the title/metadescription to encourage the click through, and ultimately an entire subset of sites have no incentive to create content if Google starts publishing results that don't necessitate further investigation (ie. clicking through to their site).
- blfr 12y agoThis is from the perspective of a site owner. From user's perspective, Google's best guess at the top, and a list of websites below is the optimal outcome (ie. what I want when searching). Splitting Google would result in a worse user experience.
- kuschku 12y agoOr it could result in a better outcome for the user, if the Search would include Knowledge Graph results from multiple sources. YouTube (another Google product) for example shows for videos that contain songs links to iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and Google Play. Google Search could do the same — list different places to get the content, etc.