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0 pointsstetrain4y ago0 comments

But does Google care about the organic search result quality?

For many search terms, the entire above-the-fold and sometimes multiple scroll heights are filled with:

- Ads

- Info cards

- People Also Ask

- Map/Business info

- Videos

- Related Products

- More Ads

The organic search results start after that and on mobile they may as well not exist.

If everyone is clicking the directly or indirectly sponsored/algorithmic content then what incentive does Google have to give you good, straightforward links to relevant webpages?

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3 comments · 1 top-level

lozenge4y ago· 2 in thread

And when the organic result is filled with ads - like recipe sites, lyrics sites, ehow, quora - those also give Google ad revenue.

So why would Google serve the more direct and helpful result from the edu domain!

stickfigure4y ago

I am not a Googler, but I know some Googlers (including at least one that worked on search) and... Google doesn't seem to work like that? The search team doesn't make take direction from the adsense team.

I think they are genuinely struggling in an adversarial environment. Imagine every hacker in the world specifically focused on your system and the payoff is millions or even billions of dollars.

stetrainOP4y ago

I think that’s totally reasonable as far as the organic results go.

But clearly there are also a lot of motivations to de-emphasize the organic results on the search page in favor of ads, “algorithmic answers” that give you an answer without clicking away from Google, and redirects to Maps, Youtube, and Shopping which are revenue-generators for Google.

Maybe that also comes with a budget de-emphasis for fighting the war in the organic results vs surfacing relevant content from these other sources.

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