Hey Google, I want my cache links back

Re:Hey Google, I want my cache links back by ugh on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @10:28AM (#3047978)

What’s that cruft you are talking about? Ignoring for a moment the cache link (I’m not sure how many people use it, maybe it’s worth testing whether Google could do with it being a bit more hidden) Google’s results page is very sparse and only provides truly useful tools.

I use Google’s ability to search for links from a specific time frame all the time, for example. I couldn’t do without it, it’s also accessible and minimalist. I also quite often switch between the different kinds of links I can search for.

I don’t see much on the results page one could reasonably remove. Exposing some of the advanced search options in the UI was the right step for Google to take. They didn’t pick everything, only the most important stuff. It’s all still very minimal.

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Re:Hey Google, I want my cache links back by wgx on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @11:13AM (#3048218)

For me, more than visual cruft (although I would argue there is more of that than before) - it's interaction cruft.

Big annoyances for me:

1. Auto suggesting and searching for words I didn't mean - common with technical phrases

2. Ignoring "quoted terms" and searching for them as an AND instead

3. Auto refreshing the results page as I modify my terms - it makes the experience slower, and I don't need to see results for half-typed words

There's probably more I can't bring to mind right now.

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Re:Hey Google, I want my cache links back by ellyagg on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @01:25PM (#3048930)

I can't scroll the page with the up/down arrows. It don't get why no one mentions this. Sometimes I'm afraid they're targeting just me. Is it really the right trade-off to steal the arrow key to scroll the results with a cursor? Who uses that feature? Leave my arrows alone.

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Re:Hey Google, I want my cache links back by mirkules on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @04:10PM (#3049655)

Indeed. It is extremely annoying to have my arrow keys hijacked for no apparent reason. I know how to scroll a page and click on links, thank you very much. I tend to look through a page before scrolling, and use the arrows to scroll down and reveal more stuff.

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Re:Hey Google, I want my cache links back by tikhonj on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @01:47PM (#3049043)

Really? I find being able to go through the results using the arrows very useful. When I'm doing a Google search, I want to get to a web site, optimally without using the mouse. Having this feature routinely saves me from having to use the mouse, which is particularly nice on a laptop.

Having the arrow keys go directly to search results is very useful especially because it takes three or four times less presses to navigate that way than using tab. Besides, if I want to scroll, I can always use the space bar--it's faster anyhow.

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Re:Hey Google, I want my cache links back by gjm11 on Thursday September 29, 2011 @05:29AM (#3051739)

Yes yes yes yes yes.

(I know me-too comments are generally frowned on, and quite right too, but we have a senior Googler reading this thread and comment scores are invisible now...)

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Re:Hey Google, I want my cache links back by colanderman on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @11:16PM (#3050971)

Better still, my browser has that feature (ctrl+arrows to navigate links instead of scrolling). This feature of Google's brings zero benefit to me.

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Re:Hey Google, I want my cache links back by joelhaus on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @02:18PM (#3049193)

You can add a "+" before a quoted phrase to enforce a strict search, but share some of these same frustrations.

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Re:Hey Google, I want my cache links back by MaysonL on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @04:24PM (#3049716)

You can, but it doesn't always do what you expect: try +"society of spectacles"

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Re:Hey Google, I want my cache links back by joelhaus on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @04:55PM (#3049867)

True, and it is an annoying extra step.

Note to self: read article and comments thoroughly before commenting to avoid being redundant.

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Re:Hey Google, I want my cache links back by ugh on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @11:15AM (#3048235)

Google does not ignore quoted terms.

I for one love instant and suggestions.

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Re:Hey Google, I want my cache links back by rhizome on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @12:33PM (#3048686)

Google does not ignore quoted terms.

Many times it seems like it does, to the extent that I've even gone back and replaced double-quotes with singles in hopes that the parser distinguishes literals.

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Re:Hey Google, I want my cache links back by ugh on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @12:36PM (#3048702)

Well, Google sensibly ignore quotes if it doesn’t find anything which is probably what happened to you. Would you rather Google to just display that it found nothing?

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Re:Hey Google, I want my cache links back by anonymoushn on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @03:55PM (#3049591)

Even when it can find something, it will mix in non-matching results with your matching results.

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Re:Hey Google, I want my cache links back by troutwine on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @12:52PM (#3048787)

Yes.

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