The top Google result for 'blockchain' is a scam ad
i.imgur.com
i.imgur.com
It seems like years ago I could find information consistantly from obscure websites just by using combos of words, but now I cant even get to those sites with same words or even close.
Paid scam ads like this is another reason I dont use google anymore.They obviously dont really care how bad those paid ads are.
google also seemed to be using my previous searches as a factor which made results much worse, because I google a lot.
What are the alternatives? I am trying that too but can't find s...t using duckduckgo and the gang.
I usually am researching obscure rare things that only a few websites in the world are talking about and before I could easily find it just by using the combo of key words in google. Now in my experience forget that, it will focus on one key word and give you every huge website that has used it in some article etc.
I lack the knowledge about the algorithms etc that they use, but as far as someone who searched a lot of things and used to enjoy googles actual search engine I just personally find its moving backwards.
Sorry I couldn't be more help :) If you have any good suggestions let me know!
I am using DucDuckGo as there is currently no better alternative. It is not great, but it serves its purpose. Also, you can add "!g" before any query. This will search on google instead :)
Like others have said, Google doesn't seem all that great these days (better flush that browser cache before searching!). The 10% of the time that the others don't provide adequate results, Google doesn't either. I've gone from instantly hopping over to Google when the alts don't provide good results, to adjusting my terms a few times before finally trying Google.
Google still works best when I want to buy something, which isn't surprising.
Google doesn't seem able to find anything any more.
Just seems to pick from a few bigger sites with word hits, then order those results by the other words.
Used to be you could put a + in front of the word you are actually interested in and have a better chance.
But now that only searches google plus pages it always turns up nothing.
Insert random data. Next, it asks you to insert your date of birth. In the case of Skrill asks it when they try to rob you. And if that is not enough, eventually they send you to the real website with an affiliate link (id 16258373) !
Google's ad report page: https://support.google.com/adwords/troubleshooter/4578507
It protects from scams and viruses also.
Had a non-tech friend ask me to put some music on his iPhone. I didn't have iTunes installed, so that was step one. I had Windows and IE running because I had been testing something, so I just hopped on Google and clicked on the top link for iTunes. All the while, I was lecturing my friend about how filthy the internet is, and how you have to be constantly vigilant. Yeah, and to prove it, my machine instantly filled with malware when I hit the iTunes executable.
The top link on Google for iTunes, one of the most downloaded pieces of software in existence, was a paid ad that installed a truckload of nasty malware. I walked right into the trap because I was accustomed to using ad blockers.
It used to be that when people had a machine full of malware, they'd been up to something fishy, like downloading free porn. These days, all it takes is a Google search for their favorite product.
or accenture.com with ad block off. Google searches are personalized. I think it is fair to assume there is some personalization in the AD results as well.
in it the ceo of hooli, a standin for all sv bigcorps, complains that hooli search's first result for his name is bad press on him
he says he wants his engineers to change it to good press
they respond, 'are you asking us to modify the underlying algorithm? that would be unethical'
the ceo agrees, 'that would be unethical, and that is why i would never ask any hooli engineer to compromise the integrity of our underlying algorithm'
and then goes and asks another division to 'exploit' the algorithm by creating a swarm of referral links to positive press on him
what's interesting here is this requirement to retain the integrity of the algorithm completely ignores the fact that the algorithm is itself flawed and easily exploited
a similar problem to google search is youtube's current issues with dmca
If you want to avoid ads, install uBlock Origin (https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock). I'm shocked people who visit this site don't already do so.
It is a top result by definition. Google, You and I know not everyone is aware of the implications of a paid ad (e.g. not so relevant for your search). I personally consider it a dark pattern to put ads there, but I guess they know better than me how to build an empire.
As far as google ads and where they are placed I find that annoying as heck, to me its like having lag in a video game, why do I want lag every time I search something ? As someone who runs a company I would never do that to my customers, a split second of time from my customers eyes I treat as valuable and something I respect not to mention having to scroll down and chew up even more time.
I get its how they make money with ads, but my taste just finds it annoying, so its one more thing that keeps me away.
I'm not convinced Google wants to use the "we can't possibly be expected to vet everyone buying our ad inventory; if you don't want our search engine to highlight scam pages you can always block our ads altogether" defence either...