9 ms·

Dear Google, we were only adding ‘site:reddit.com’ or ‘site:news.ycombinator.com’ to search queries so we could get to opinions that weren’t being manipulated b

by tcldr 3y ago

Dear Google, we were only adding ‘site:reddit.com’ or ‘site:news.ycombinator.com’ to search queries so we could get to opinions that weren’t being manipulated by SEO fiddlers. What’s our alternative now?

teruakohatu 3y ago
Spammers have been heavily targeting reddit for years and site:reddit.com is still useful. Why Google have not bought reddit, I don't know (beyond moderation issues, but AMZN made it work with twitch).
- candiddevmike 3y ago
  I've become really skeptical of Reddit comments around products for this reason. Searching "best X site:reddit.com" and going off the top comment recommendation seems really sketchy when that top comment is only 5-10 points. Maybe I'm just really paranoid these days, but I would bet looking at searches with Reddit in them and creating threads or commenting on old ones and paying for up votes is probably lucrative.
  - whiterknight 3y ago
    You should be skeptical. Every marketing professional knows and uses Reddit. Sentiment is casually discussed in meetings etc.
  - echelon_musk 3y ago
    Reddit has been astroturfed for a good 10yrs at this point. EDIT: https://old.reddit.com/r/HailCorporate/ https://old.reddit.com/r/HailCorporate/
  - ShamelessC 3y ago
    User reviews are useless without some sort of vetting process. As far as I know there isn’t a platform available today that provides this.
- arccy 3y ago
  why would they buy a cesspool of bots and memes? google is for finding content, not hosting content (unless you want it shut down)
  - dylan604 3y ago
    > google is for finding content where does this notion come from? google is for them to find out what you think you want so they know what ads to serve you. if it was for finding content, they would show you the results that were actually related to your query.
- tmpz22 3y ago
  I don't think Reddit has ever been a clean acquisition - either because they've raised at high valuations many times or because of an undesirable content/moderation problem.
- shagie 3y ago
  Do you believe that Google would have been a better custodian of Reddit than say Deja News ( https://www.wired.com/2001/02/google-buys-deja-archive/ https://www.wired.com/2001/02/google-buys-deja-archive/ ) aka Google Groups ( https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-dr... )?
  - stuartjohnson12 3y ago
    Google acquisitions suck because the thing gets left to rot. The last thing Reddit needed was all of its recent changes towards crypto and engagement-bait nonsense. I think they'd have it in better shape than it is now.
    - isthatafact 3y ago
      reddit has done a great job of letting itself rot -- for example, the moderation system tends to result in a hostile experience for users who attempt to participate. On the other hand, if google owned it, getting banned from a subreddit would possibly mean getting locked out of all of your google accounts.
      - drngdds 3y ago
        The moderation system is pretty much the same as any forum. You just have to read the sidebar rules first when you're posting on an unfamiliar subreddit, as you would when joining any community.
        peppermint_gum 3y ago
        On most forums there's no automated system that automatically shadowbans users for using a blacklisted IP. They also don't quietly remove comments in a way that is invisible to a user for triggering some keyword in AutoModerator or a spam filter. And there are usually no minimum karma or account age requirements for posters.
- overstay8930 3y ago
  Google hasn’t bought Reddit because it’s literally only downsides. Bad PR, low profit margin, etc… I mean does anyone actually like Reddit anymore? Front page is almost entirely bots reposing and reusing the same comments that have been used for years.
  - teruakohatu 3y ago
    > I mean does anyone actually like Reddit anymore? Yes, but if there was a better alternative I would switch in an instant … but those network effects.
    - rglullis 3y ago
      Come to Lemmy and follow Reddit content though one of the mirror instances.
  - scubbo 3y ago
    > I mean does anyone actually like Reddit anymore? I do like the good parts, deeply hidden, that can often be surfaced with a Google search. Case in point, I had a bug with some installed software yesterday, to which the only viable solution I found was in a Reddit post from a few months back. But the experience of actively browsing the "leading edge" of the site? Absolutely not. I purposely-deprecated my credentials a year or so back and haven't regretted it.
  - treflop 3y ago
    Using reddit with the default front page is like getting a podcast app and only listening to the top 5 most subscribed podcasts.
  - altdataseller 3y ago
    You’re living in a bubble because Reddit is probably among the top 50 most visited sites in the world. You may not like the experience, hate the spam, hate what it stands for, but a lot of people still visit it and use it daily
    - 3y ago
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- ikiris 3y ago
  Nothing would ruin reddit faster than being a google "bet"
- randmeerkat 3y ago
  > Why Google have not bought reddit, I don't know… My guess is that too many people at Google are on Reddit and didn’t want to see it go to the Google graveyard the day after acquisition.
  - 0ckpuppet 3y ago
    How many times can it jump the shark?
  - scoofy 3y ago
    I don't think the google graveyard is a concern, because it's obviously a valuable, profitable product they could sell, but if you haven't been horrified by the current enshitification of reddit, you haven't been paying attention. I was a moderator of some very large subreddits, and due to reddits pigeonholing me into an app vs new mobile layout, I'm leaving those moderator positions (note: I am not complaining about the api issues). I don't want to participate in a community that is catering to the lowest common denominator such that the term "redditquitte" is a joke. I've thought long and hard about it, and I think companies are intentionally creating Eternal Septembers in their products, because it's just easier to just put big pictures on the homepage to get clicks, when that type of UX only invites the type of people who see the site as something only to consume and not to contribute to. I've been invited to multiple "moderator feedback" focus groups, that were worse than awful. After they defaulted an "annoying look here" icon in the right corner to try and get us to work more, I said "fuck this, I'm out." My point here isn't just to bitch and moan, it's to point out that site:reddit.com only works because the community is one that actively values contribution over consumption... that's going away, and the usefulness of site:reddit.com will go away as that culture changes.
    - akdaadensb 3y ago
      Reddit was enshitified circa 2014 or 2015, this is not a new thing. It's been garbage for a long time and I'm surprised it's taken so many this long to notice. In fairness if you kept to subreddits that were eminently unpopular and off the beaten path then it wasn't as obvious. I guess the mobile app was what really broke the camels back but the quality of the posts had been on a downward trend in a severe way since at least Obama's second term, when I think both political parties recognized it as important and began to manipulate it. This is made easier by the partitioning of the site into subreddits. I hopefully don't have to explain here why that makes automated sockpuppeting much more effective and easier to accomplish. It's a fundamental design flaw (if we were to assume the design of Reddit was intended at all to provide a space for authentic personal takes on real issues and by real humans). There is a danger of the same thing happening to HackerNews but I hope the lack of financial incentives to allow that sort of thing does some work to mitigate it, along with the lack of partitioning of the community.
- Hnrobert42 3y ago
  This scares me. What happens when HN becomes the next spammer target? Where do we all migrate?
  - haint_ 3y ago
    lobste.rs maybe.
    - matheusmoreira 3y ago
      Looks like you need to know someone to get in there, though. I'm not sure I do.
      - withinboredom 3y ago
        [dead]
- andsoitis 3y ago
  > but AMZN made it work with twitch). I don't know that the Twitch acquisition was smart. What was the strategic reason to acquire? Amazon announced cutting 35% of Twitch staff (500) in January to stem losses after two rounds of layoffs last year.
umvi 3y ago
I've started using smaller (ish) YouTubers instead of reddit when it comes to finding best in class products. For example, this channel is phenomenal: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2rzsm1Qi6N1X-wuOg_p0Ng https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2rzsm1Qi6N1X-wuOg_p0Ng
- ametrau 3y ago
  Looks better than most but the only reason it’s video is to show you ads. It’s the wrong format and it’s awkward.
  - RandomBacon 3y ago
    > the only reason it’s video is to show you ads Looking at those video lengths, I'm inclined to believe you. Any video that is 9 to 11 minutes long, I automatically skip because that's the sweetspot length for maximizing ad revenue. This person's are a bit longer, but looking at the video subjects, I can't see why they need to be that long.
    - depletedgherkin 3y ago
      >Any video that is 9 to 11 minutes long, I automatically skip because that's the sweetspot length for maximizing ad revenue. I think that may be outdated? 10 minutes was the sweet spot for ad revenue a few years ago, but I think around 8 minutes is the sweet spot now.
- CapitalistCartr 3y ago
  Project Farm is a treasure.
  - notatoad 3y ago
    i love the work he does, but can only watch him on mute.
    - Auracle 3y ago
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
w-ll 3y ago
I need a `age:1year` or something, almost everytime I search something tech related i generealy dont want some StackOverflow from 2014. And dont get me started on the changes they made if you search a product or something buyable. its takes like 4 clicks to go to the shop page and none of the open-in-tab methods work
- PinkMilkshake 3y ago
  before/after:<year> Works on Google and Youtube
  - w-ll 3y ago
    Thanks, but is that when it was first crawled?
    - rafram 3y ago
      It’s based on the published/updated date that the page provides.
      - ignoramous 3y ago
        From what I've noticed, the date is also inferred from the page.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
unclebucknasty 3y ago
I think that entire "Hidden Gem" update is being spun by Google as a positive "opportunity" to bring in more useful content for users, when it is actually a defensive maneuver against the absolute gaming of their algo that has led to an insane deterioration in their results quality. Even simple queries now routinely return mountains of obvious SE spam. Combine this with Google now placing only sponsored content on damn near the full first SERP for some terms and it has become less useful by an order of magnitude (I meticulously calculated this figure). And, this degradation at the same time ChatGPT has come on the scene. I know I personally bypass Google altogether now more and more frequently in favor of ChatGPT. Wonder how many people do the same and whether there is a whiff of desperation at the Big G.

by tcldr 3y ago

teruakohatu 3y ago

Spammers have been heavily targeting reddit for years and site:reddit.com is still useful. Why Google have not bought reddit, I don't know (beyond moderation issues, but AMZN made it work with twitch).

candiddevmike 3y ago
I've become really skeptical of Reddit comments around products for this reason. Searching "best X site:reddit.com" and going off the top comment recommendation seems really sketchy when that top comment is only 5-10 points. Maybe I'm just really paranoid these days, but I would bet looking at searches with Reddit in them and creating threads or commenting on old ones and paying for up votes is probably lucrative.
- whiterknight 3y ago
  You should be skeptical. Every marketing professional knows and uses Reddit. Sentiment is casually discussed in meetings etc.
- echelon_musk 3y ago
  Reddit has been astroturfed for a good 10yrs at this point. EDIT: https://old.reddit.com/r/HailCorporate/ https://old.reddit.com/r/HailCorporate/
- ShamelessC 3y ago
  User reviews are useless without some sort of vetting process. As far as I know there isn’t a platform available today that provides this.
arccy 3y ago
why would they buy a cesspool of bots and memes? google is for finding content, not hosting content (unless you want it shut down)
- dylan604 3y ago
  > google is for finding content where does this notion come from? google is for them to find out what you think you want so they know what ads to serve you. if it was for finding content, they would show you the results that were actually related to your query.
tmpz22 3y ago
I don't think Reddit has ever been a clean acquisition - either because they've raised at high valuations many times or because of an undesirable content/moderation problem.
shagie 3y ago
Do you believe that Google would have been a better custodian of Reddit than say Deja News ( https://www.wired.com/2001/02/google-buys-deja-archive/ https://www.wired.com/2001/02/google-buys-deja-archive/ ) aka Google Groups ( https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-dr... )?
- stuartjohnson12 3y ago
  Google acquisitions suck because the thing gets left to rot. The last thing Reddit needed was all of its recent changes towards crypto and engagement-bait nonsense. I think they'd have it in better shape than it is now.
  - isthatafact 3y ago
    reddit has done a great job of letting itself rot -- for example, the moderation system tends to result in a hostile experience for users who attempt to participate. On the other hand, if google owned it, getting banned from a subreddit would possibly mean getting locked out of all of your google accounts.
    - drngdds 3y ago
      The moderation system is pretty much the same as any forum. You just have to read the sidebar rules first when you're posting on an unfamiliar subreddit, as you would when joining any community.
      - peppermint_gum 3y ago
        On most forums there's no automated system that automatically shadowbans users for using a blacklisted IP. They also don't quietly remove comments in a way that is invisible to a user for triggering some keyword in AutoModerator or a spam filter. And there are usually no minimum karma or account age requirements for posters.
overstay8930 3y ago
Google hasn’t bought Reddit because it’s literally only downsides. Bad PR, low profit margin, etc… I mean does anyone actually like Reddit anymore? Front page is almost entirely bots reposing and reusing the same comments that have been used for years.
- teruakohatu 3y ago
  > I mean does anyone actually like Reddit anymore? Yes, but if there was a better alternative I would switch in an instant … but those network effects.
  - rglullis 3y ago
    Come to Lemmy and follow Reddit content though one of the mirror instances.
- scubbo 3y ago
  > I mean does anyone actually like Reddit anymore? I do like the good parts, deeply hidden, that can often be surfaced with a Google search. Case in point, I had a bug with some installed software yesterday, to which the only viable solution I found was in a Reddit post from a few months back. But the experience of actively browsing the "leading edge" of the site? Absolutely not. I purposely-deprecated my credentials a year or so back and haven't regretted it.
- treflop 3y ago
  Using reddit with the default front page is like getting a podcast app and only listening to the top 5 most subscribed podcasts.
- altdataseller 3y ago
  You’re living in a bubble because Reddit is probably among the top 50 most visited sites in the world. You may not like the experience, hate the spam, hate what it stands for, but a lot of people still visit it and use it daily
  - 3y ago
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
ikiris 3y ago
Nothing would ruin reddit faster than being a google "bet"
randmeerkat 3y ago
> Why Google have not bought reddit, I don't know… My guess is that too many people at Google are on Reddit and didn’t want to see it go to the Google graveyard the day after acquisition.
- 0ckpuppet 3y ago
  How many times can it jump the shark?
- scoofy 3y ago
  I don't think the google graveyard is a concern, because it's obviously a valuable, profitable product they could sell, but if you haven't been horrified by the current enshitification of reddit, you haven't been paying attention. I was a moderator of some very large subreddits, and due to reddits pigeonholing me into an app vs new mobile layout, I'm leaving those moderator positions (note: I am not complaining about the api issues). I don't want to participate in a community that is catering to the lowest common denominator such that the term "redditquitte" is a joke. I've thought long and hard about it, and I think companies are intentionally creating Eternal Septembers in their products, because it's just easier to just put big pictures on the homepage to get clicks, when that type of UX only invites the type of people who see the site as something only to consume and not to contribute to. I've been invited to multiple "moderator feedback" focus groups, that were worse than awful. After they defaulted an "annoying look here" icon in the right corner to try and get us to work more, I said "fuck this, I'm out." My point here isn't just to bitch and moan, it's to point out that site:reddit.com only works because the community is one that actively values contribution over consumption... that's going away, and the usefulness of site:reddit.com will go away as that culture changes.
  - akdaadensb 3y ago
    Reddit was enshitified circa 2014 or 2015, this is not a new thing. It's been garbage for a long time and I'm surprised it's taken so many this long to notice. In fairness if you kept to subreddits that were eminently unpopular and off the beaten path then it wasn't as obvious. I guess the mobile app was what really broke the camels back but the quality of the posts had been on a downward trend in a severe way since at least Obama's second term, when I think both political parties recognized it as important and began to manipulate it. This is made easier by the partitioning of the site into subreddits. I hopefully don't have to explain here why that makes automated sockpuppeting much more effective and easier to accomplish. It's a fundamental design flaw (if we were to assume the design of Reddit was intended at all to provide a space for authentic personal takes on real issues and by real humans). There is a danger of the same thing happening to HackerNews but I hope the lack of financial incentives to allow that sort of thing does some work to mitigate it, along with the lack of partitioning of the community.
Hnrobert42 3y ago
This scares me. What happens when HN becomes the next spammer target? Where do we all migrate?
- haint_ 3y ago
  lobste.rs maybe.
  - matheusmoreira 3y ago
    Looks like you need to know someone to get in there, though. I'm not sure I do.
    - withinboredom 3y ago
      [dead]
andsoitis 3y ago
> but AMZN made it work with twitch). I don't know that the Twitch acquisition was smart. What was the strategic reason to acquire? Amazon announced cutting 35% of Twitch staff (500) in January to stem losses after two rounds of layoffs last year.

umvi 3y ago

I've started using smaller (ish) YouTubers instead of reddit when it comes to finding best in class products. For example, this channel is phenomenal: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2rzsm1Qi6N1X-wuOg_p0Ng https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2rzsm1Qi6N1X-wuOg_p0Ng

ametrau 3y ago
Looks better than most but the only reason it’s video is to show you ads. It’s the wrong format and it’s awkward.
- RandomBacon 3y ago
  > the only reason it’s video is to show you ads Looking at those video lengths, I'm inclined to believe you. Any video that is 9 to 11 minutes long, I automatically skip because that's the sweetspot length for maximizing ad revenue. This person's are a bit longer, but looking at the video subjects, I can't see why they need to be that long.
  - depletedgherkin 3y ago
    >Any video that is 9 to 11 minutes long, I automatically skip because that's the sweetspot length for maximizing ad revenue. I think that may be outdated? 10 minutes was the sweet spot for ad revenue a few years ago, but I think around 8 minutes is the sweet spot now.
CapitalistCartr 3y ago
Project Farm is a treasure.
- notatoad 3y ago
  i love the work he does, but can only watch him on mute.
  - Auracle 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

w-ll 3y ago

I need a `age:1year` or something, almost everytime I search something tech related i generealy dont want some StackOverflow from 2014. And dont get me started on the changes they made if you search a product or something buyable. its takes like 4 clicks to go to the shop page and none of the open-in-tab methods work

PinkMilkshake 3y ago
before/after:<year> Works on Google and Youtube
- w-ll 3y ago
  Thanks, but is that when it was first crawled?
  - rafram 3y ago
    It’s based on the published/updated date that the page provides.
    - ignoramous 3y ago
      From what I've noticed, the date is also inferred from the page.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

unclebucknasty 3y ago

I think that entire "Hidden Gem" update is being spun by Google as a positive "opportunity" to bring in more useful content for users, when it is actually a defensive maneuver against the absolute gaming of their algo that has led to an insane deterioration in their results quality. Even simple queries now routinely return mountains of obvious SE spam. Combine this with Google now placing only sponsored content on damn near the full first SERP for some terms and it has become less useful by an order of magnitude (I meticulously calculated this figure). And, this degradation at the same time ChatGPT has come on the scene. I know I personally bypass Google altogether now more and more frequently in favor of ChatGPT. Wonder how many people do the same and whether there is a whiff of desperation at the Big G.