Google search

riffmongous · 19-09-2019 1:49am #1

Is it just me or has Google search on the mobile become almost unusable? First we get ads, then stories, then images, then questions, then business locations, then a handful of results, followed by similar searches and finally an option to get more results. And what I am getting for results seems to be more and more businesses. I finally got fed up and switched to duck today, it's a shame cause Google used to be great

FanadMan · 19-09-2019 1:56am

riffmongous wrote: »

Is it just me or has Google search on the mobile become almost unusable? First we get ads, then stories, then images, then questions, then business locations, then a handful of results, followed by similar searches and finally an option to get more results. And what I am getting for results seems to be more and more businesses. I finally got fed up and switched to duck today, it's a shame cause Google used to be great

Think it must be you.
I've got the latest updates for all google apps on my phone. Did a number of random searches and they all came up normal.

Maybe run a malware scan on your device?

Your Face · 19-09-2019 3:43am

Sounds like of those fancy new WAP phones.

Montage of Feck · 19-09-2019 8:53am

ðŸ¦†

The high horse brigade · 19-09-2019 8:56am

riffmongous wrote: »

Is it just me or has Google search on the mobile become almost unusable? First we get ads, then stories, then images, then questions, then business locations, then a handful of results, followed by similar searches and finally an option to get more results. And what I am getting for results seems to be more and more businesses. I finally got fed up and switched to duck today, it's a shame cause Google used to be great

It's just you, zero problems here. Have you location, history and other stuff disabled by any chance?

biko · 19-09-2019 8:56am

Duckduckgo is the way to go, even if Google works just fine on my phone without the issues you mention.

punisher5112 · 19-09-2019 8:57am

Sounds exactly like YouTube....

Gregor Samsa · 19-09-2019 9:06am

I get what the OP means.

Google used to be about giving you the list of results for your search and no nonsense. Plain and simple.

Now the actual “top results” are a screen down (on a phone), past “people also searched for”, “top stories” and “people also asked...” sections.

They’re far removed from their simple and efficient beginnings.

Padraig Mor · 19-09-2019 9:08am

riffmongous wrote: »

Is it just me or has Google search on the mobile become almost unusable? First we get ads, then stories, then images, then questions, then business locations, then a handful of results, followed by similar searches and finally an option to get more results. And what I am getting for results seems to be more and more businesses. I finally got fed up and switched to duck today, it's a shame cause Google used to be great

Same here. Do a search, and the actual results are about a third of what's thrown up on your screen. Just show me what I ****ing asked for Google!

Sonics2k · 19-09-2019 9:11am

This hasn't aged well.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 19-09-2019 10:38am

I get one or two ads but that's it.

I have had cases where I'm looking for specific information about how to fix and item and it does have a tendency to mistake the word fix for buy....

Ger Roe · 19-09-2019 10:40am

Gregor Samsa wrote: »

I get what the OP means.

Google used to be about giving you the list of results for your search and no nonsense. Plain and simple.

Now the actual “top results” are a screen down (on a phone), past “people also searched for”, “top stories” and “people also asked...” sections.

They’re far removed from their simple and efficient beginnings.

Google has become less of an actual search engine and more of a carefully targeted advertising agency. I think people who haven't noticed a change, haven't been using it for long enough to know how impartial and effective it actually used to be.

JohnnyFlash · 19-09-2019 10:40am

They keep having to make more money to appease shareholders and ‘the market’. Even one bad quarter is unacceptable these days. So you’ll continue to get more and more ads and sponsored listings.

Bing is better these days.

Feisar · 19-09-2019 11:56am

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

They keep having to make more money to appease shareholders and ‘the market’. Even one bad quarter is unacceptable these days. So you’ll continue to get more and more ads and sponsored listings.

Bing is better these days.

That's the problem with the markets generally, the requirement for continual growth.

riffmongous · 19-09-2019 12:43pm

FanadMan wrote: »

Think it must be you.
I've got the latest updates for all google apps on my phone. Did a number of random searches and they all came up normal.

Maybe run a malware scan on your device?

I'm using Chrome too, forgot to mention that

Try a search for 'friday', that's when I really noticed it. Only on the 3rd page of scroll do I get the first proper result, before that it's a load of crap about stories and TGI Fridays. I can't zoom out either without going to Desktop View, so it's lots and lots of scrolling

riffmongous · 19-09-2019 12:46pm

punisher5112 wrote: »

Sounds exactly like YouTube....

Don't get me started on Youtube, 2 ads in a row me hole

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 19-09-2019 12:49pm

riffmongous wrote: »

I'm using Chrome too, forgot to mention that

Try a search for 'friday', that's when I really noticed it. Only on the 3rd page of scroll do I get the first proper result, before that it's a load of crap about stories and TGI Fridays. I can't zoom out either without going to Desktop View, so it's lots and lots of scrolling

Ok, you're doing something wrong here. I just did a search for Friday and the very first link is the wikipedia page for Friday.

riffmongous · 19-09-2019 12:51pm

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Ok, you're doing something wrong here. I just did a search for Friday and the very first link is the wikipedia page for Friday.

On Chrome, mobile?

nkl12xtw5goz70 · 19-09-2019 12:51pm

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Ok, you're doing something wrong here. I just did a search for Friday and the very first link is the wikipedia page for Friday.

My top result is for a 1995 film called Friday.

Rebecca Black's awful song "Friday" also shows up as a top result.

xabi · 19-09-2019 12:52pm

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Ok, you're doing something wrong here. I just did a search for Friday and the very first link is the wikipedia page for Friday.

Same here.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 19-09-2019 12:53pm

riffmongous wrote: »

On Chrome, mobile?

EDIT: On laptop. Have you got adblock installed?

Mobile: one advert link, then the movie mentioned above.

riffmongous · 19-09-2019 12:58pm

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Yes. Have you got adblock installed?

Nope

This is what I get as the first 'page' of view

Quantum Erasure · 19-09-2019 2:23pm

also, whats with pinterest flooding the top results when you do an image search?

TheValeyard · 19-09-2019 2:27pm

Quantum Erasure wrote: »

also, whats with pinterest flooding the top results when you do an image search?

Pinterest can go and die in the recycle bin like Words paperclip, Netscape Browser, oceanfree chat, yahoo.

The Nal · 09-10-2019 11:24am

Not on a phone but on Win10, Google.com not auto completing, maps not working from the google page when I click "directions" and the "People also ask" drop down menu isn't dropping down. All settings are correct/same as before when it was working. Just happened this morning.

Ficheall · 09-10-2019 11:35am

I noticed the other day that Google had reverted to saving my search history even though I had turned that "feature" off previously. It's a shame duckduckgo just isn't as good at searching for things.

73bc61lyohr0mu · 09-10-2019 11:38am

Unlock bootloader, install a custom ROM with no Google services. Use Aurora store and F Droid for app downloads. Be grand..

764dak · 09-10-2019 12:59pm

Bing shows better results than Google does.

Esel · 09-10-2019 6:50pm

DuckDuckGo have a browser now as well.

09-10-2019 6:54pm

https://www.qwant.com

Zorya · 09-10-2019 7:04pm

I have been finding that google is becoming very untrustworthy. It shows results at the top which are what one might call politically acceptable. It is definitely a biased algorithm now. And very noticeable compared to even a couple of years ago. If you want to find something not altogether kosher you have to feed it way more terms to narrow down the search. I started using duckduckgo but Im not all that gone on it either.
Maybe it is just a sticky down swing on the internet and will right itself but it certainly aint freedom of thought. Ah well.

michaellunney · 17-11-2019 1:36pm

The Google search results are a complete mess lately.
Duck Duck Go and Bing are much better, so long as you add 'Ireland' at the end of the search term if looking for local sites. There are a few ads but not the complete mess that Google has turned into.

Potential-Monke · 17-11-2019 2:09pm

I'm not sure I'm ready to use Bing... even if Google is gone to the dogs. Grand on PC/Laptop as AdBlock actually works, but AdBlock on mobile is terrible and there's no alternative.

Tried that Qwant from the last page, and it's the same results as google, but without the expanded everything first, so the Wiki for Friday is actually on the 1st page, but 3rd option behind the movie and Rebecca fukin Black, followed by completely unrelated 'Headline News' options...

My mother is started to get pretty au fait with smartphones (she's 71), but the Google searches are doing her nut in, for the reasons in this thread. There should be a law against advertising to people over a certain age, they're too gullible and these sites know this and take advantage.

irishgeo · 17-11-2019 2:32pm

Potential-Monke wrote: »

I'm not sure I'm ready to use Bing... even if Google is gone to the dogs. Grand on PC/Laptop as AdBlock actually works, but AdBlock on mobile is terrible and there's no alternative.

Tried that Qwant from the last page, and it's the same results as google, but without the expanded everything first, so the Wiki for Friday is actually on the 1st page, but 3rd option behind the movie and Rebecca fukin Black, followed by completely unrelated 'Headline News' options...

My mother is started to get pretty au fait with smartphones (she's 71), but the Google searches are doing her nut in, for the reasons in this thread. There should be a law against advertising to people over a certain age, they're too gullible and these sites know this and take advantage.

Blockada for ad blocking on mobile.

Potential-Monke · 17-11-2019 2:40pm

irishgeo wrote: »

Blockada for ad blocking on mobile.

Call me picky, but if it's not on the Play store, I won't install it, not into this 3rd party craic even if it's beneficial. The only Blokada i'm getting is a DNS changer, and I do like the worst review, or specifically the reply:

Jayson:
ok here's my review, your app is good, but not very good, why? well after i use the app for an hour popup ads stop but after an hour the ads pop up start popping in again, so 2 star for this app.. not recommended for long-term... if someone want to block ads for an hour then you download this!

Dev:
Hello,
Nice to see such and in depth review.
...

Good stuff!

Edit: On the 3rd party stuff, do I only have to enable it to download this, and then can I disable it again?

dan1895 · 17-11-2019 2:42pm

A visa to Canada should cost about €5 or so. However if you Google Canada visas the first link is for a company that sells them for about €70. Their website looks remarkably like the official one too. Seventy year old mother in law got stung by this a few months ago.

irishgeo · 17-11-2019 3:23pm

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Call me picky, but if it's not on the Play store, I won't install it, not into this 3rd party craic even if it's beneficial. The only Blokada i'm getting is a DNS changer, and I do like the worst review, or specifically the reply:

Jayson:
ok here's my review, your app is good, but not very good, why? well after i use the app for an hour popup ads stop but after an hour the ads pop up start popping in again, so 2 star for this app.. not recommended for long-term... if someone want to block ads for an hour then you download this!

Dev:
Hello,
Nice to see such and in depth review.
...

Good stuff!

Edit: On the 3rd party stuff, do I only have to enable it to download this, and then can I disable it again?

Its not on the play store as it blocks ads something google makes all its money out of so you can see why.

https://blokada.org/index.html

Its free and open source, if it was anyway dodgy the guys over at reddit would have tore it apart.

Another option is to install firefox and then install ublockorigin plugin.

pure.conya · 17-11-2019 3:41pm

riffmongous wrote: »

Don't get me started on Youtube, 2 ads in a row me hole

try downloading the opensouce version called newpipe, no ads whatsoever

pure.conya · 17-11-2019 3:45pm

Denver Disgusting Soil wrote: »

Unlock bootloader, install a custom ROM with no Google services. Use Aurora store and F Droid for app downloads. Be grand..

+1 for f-droid

ForestFire · 17-11-2019 3:46pm

I searched for Friday and it said please come back in 5 days

Quantum Erasure · 17-11-2019 5:27pm

Fuaranach wrote: »

The most annoying thing about Google for the past maybe 8 years is the death of the Ireland only search option.

if you want to search a specific site include site:boards.ie (for example) in your search

to search from a specific domain include site:*.ie or site:*.co.uk etc.

irishgeo · 17-11-2019 6:18pm

if you really want to learn how to get the best out of google search, try this course

https://coursebuilder.withgoogle.com/sample/course?use_last_location=true

Potential-Monke · 17-11-2019 7:10pm

irishgeo wrote: »

if you really want to learn how to get the best out of google search, try this course

https://coursebuilder.withgoogle.com/sample/course?use_last_location=true

Interesting... How long is the course? I just completed 2 on Networking Foundations, and yer man is after putting me off for a while!

branie2 · 17-11-2019 7:40pm

Fine to me

cj maxx · 17-11-2019 8:01pm

I've noticed the Google app is full of ads and 'stories'.
I don't get these on chrome.

Google search

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