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A comment on Ask HN: Is the past disappearing on the web?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: Is the past disappearing on the web? by skinkestek on Wednesday January 26, 2022 @08:15AM (#30085014)
Read the how to on marginalia. Edit, it is right beneath the search box and says: [...] A concrete example: How do I cook steak? will probably not be helpful, Steak Recipe will give better results (just Steak is pretty good too).

After that try: python datetime timestamp

or: python convert time

or something similar. Edit: see also marginalias answer next to me.

As I wrote earlier: marginalia is most for fun (although lately I have gotten better results for at least one simple technical query.)

Edit: if a search engine respects your query you can always broaden your query. If a search engine ignores your query you cannot do anything.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: Is the past disappearing on the web? by ajmurmann on Wednesday January 26, 2022 @10:00AM (#30086261)
Is my memory filling me or is that much closer to how search used to work in the early 00s? I have vague memories of being flabbergasted by someone even trying something like "how to XYZ?" in a search engine.
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Re:Ask HN: Is the past disappearing on the web? by alex_sf on Wednesday January 26, 2022 @11:28AM (#30087554)
Yeah, you used to have to think of specific, unique keywords that would appear in the page you were searching for. A lot of people couldn't break the habit of asking questions, so search engines just started accepting it and trying to optimize for it.
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Re:Ask HN: Is the past disappearing on the web? by skinkestek on Wednesday January 26, 2022 @12:20PM (#30088405)
> A lot of people couldn't break the habit of asking questions, so search engines just started accepting it and trying to optimize for it.

Which had been totally fine if they hadn't nerfed it for us who knew how to use it.

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Re:Ask HN: Is the past disappearing on the web? by skinkestek on Wednesday January 26, 2022 @11:27AM (#30087532)
No, you are right.

This is the way anyone with a clue would approach search until Google broke it: search for words or phrases within the page.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: Is the past disappearing on the web? by samstave on Wednesday January 26, 2022 @03:21PM (#30091188)
I always search as such:

"perfect steak recipe"

"perfect grilled chicken"

and such... typically resulting in the best results.

"R53 mini cooper fuel filter"

reduce the words to the core of the question, and get good results.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: Is the past disappearing on the web? by sajforbes on Wednesday January 26, 2022 @05:27PM (#30092997)
I distinctly remember terming my searches as questions. I was young and this was back pre Google so I was using Ask Jeeves. Naturally if you're asking someone something you would phrase it as a question, so in my mind it made sense to ask it that way.
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Re:Ask HN: Is the past disappearing on the web? by vwcx on Thursday January 27, 2022 @09:07AM (#30100718)
Wasn't that the whole premise of Ask Jeeves? And then much later, Wolfram Alpha awed with that same 'plain language' functionality?
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