Re:Why Google is so unbearable, and how to fix it
by colordrops on Wednesday May 18, 2022 @11:28AM
(#31423995)
I keep seeing this excuse but it doesn't explain why google doesn't downrank obvious bad actors that have been showing up at the top for years, or returning results that don't have the most important word in your search terms, or why they don't offer settings to permanently filter some sites. It's a problem with incentives, not SEO spam.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:Why Google is so unbearable, and how to fix it
by freediver on Wednesday May 18, 2022 @01:51PM
(#31425633)
Most likely because the only reliable on-page indicator for detecting low quality content is the amount of ads/trackers on page which is probably the only thing that they can not directly punish a site for.
Re:Why Google is so unbearable, and how to fix it
by EricE on Thursday May 19, 2022 @09:34AM
(#31434439)
Indeed. Google used to have a mechanism to report pages - was annoying when they removed that. Even if it was just the illusion of control, it was nice to think they at least pretended to care.
Re:Why Google is so unbearable, and how to fix it
by nikanj on Thursday May 19, 2022 @04:10AM
(#31431997)
They don't curate the search index by hand, and "obvious bad actors" aren't really that obvious from a "well-definable heuristic" point of view. It's obvious to a human, but it seems hard to identify via an algorithm