This ain’t just Google. SEO effectively killed all search engines. As an IT guy who’s been googling shit before I was 10, I can’t find shit anymore.
I genuinely can’t trust google results to be true and unbiased anymore. Nowadays I use a combination of google results, reddit results, Quorn results, ChatGPT fever dreams, and dead reckoning.
As a programmer and system admin, I’ve been using Google since its inception, too. I can’t think of an instance that I’ve failed to find whatever I’m looking for in recent times. People say what you’re saying a lot, so I don’t doubt you. It just makes me wonder what it is you guys are searching for because I search for some extremely obscure stuff quite often with no issues. This is all to say, I have a fair share of qualms with Google, but the search engine itself isn’t one of them.
I think a lot of it is that the content that google returns is mostly ads or clickbait articles that contain no useful information. You can usually find what you are looking for but you have to actually put time and effort into filtering all the bullshit now.
Maybe it is my ad blocker that is filtering this kind of stuff for me. Or maybe the things I look up most often are specific enough that there isn’t much bullshit or clickbaity stuff to show. Sure, I’ll see the occasional “Sponsored” link. I think my brain just auto-filters those and I don’t even take notice. I really don’t intend to sound like a Google fanboy - I’m not. I just don’t seem to experience this, but hear people say this a lot. The attached screenshot seems like a typical result for something I’d look up, and it’s exactly what I’m looking for. In any case, thanks for your perspective. I’m going to try to be more conscious to see if I’m just fooling myself.
The entire internet has become a toxic mess.
Sadly this is how I feel too. Everything is trying to squeeze a dime out of my eyes. Man I don’t even buy shit unless I absolutely need it.
I think quora is worse then reddit both are bad tho the answers are really really bad
Quora is AWFUL.
Directions unclear. Reddit blocks my work IP for “network security” unless accounts are used to maximize data collection.
I’ve found that alternative reddit frontends bypass this. That and I believe changing the URL to old reddit.
Of course, this will only work until (if?) Reddit is successful in removing old reddit and preventing third party front-end.
Do you mean New Old Reddit or Old Old Reddit? /hj
No, seriously, they’re apparently working on a New New Reddit to replace their half-baked New Old Reddit (and presumably their still-working-perfectly Old Old Reddit).
Reddit used to be a pretty cool thing. And it still has a lot of good information. But I always feel dirty when I do resort to searching Reddit for information.
Aaron Swartz would be appalled.
I feel like Aaron 100% would have backed Lemmy.
(Edit: Not that I or anyone can speak for him, obviously.)
Reddit makes me feel dirty.
Quora is just plain vomit.
yahoo answers shutdown ruined it all.
Just go straight to Wikipedia.
For local information, such as what is the best inexpensive insurance in your city, for example, Wiki can’t answer.
I’ve had more luck with local facebook groups or word of mouth than the internet, for this stuff, in the recent years. This and some group chats are pretty much the only reasons I still have a Meta account…
wikivoyage
I still have a Reddit account but I stopped posting anything to it a couple of years ago. I only use it for a few niche things I can’t find anywhere else, like r/SamsungWatchFaces
For the record, the real trick is to add “site:reddit.com”. But as the site decays over time that will sadly become less useful.
I really think they are going to start requiring logins or the app to view most content. That seems to be what they are going toward with the “unreviewed content” thing.
100%. To be honest I don’t even use this “trick” anymore myself because like 60% of the links are inaccessible now.
It’s incredibly sad that they destroyed such a great resource, that place was like the Wikipedia of opinions.
Yes this is the only reason I still have a Reddit account
It’s the only reason I bothered patching my former app of choice.
As asked already, why do you feel the need for an account for this? It changes nothing. You’ve surely misunderstood something, you keeping an account has absolutely no relation to any of this.
Not OP but every so often when I click on a Reddit link from a search result, Reddit doesn’t actually let me read the thread unless I login
I believe it happens on mobile b/c they are trying to force people to use their godforsaken app. Clicking desktop view bypasses the tomfoolery.
Use old.reddit.com
REDLIB.
Why do you need a Reddit account? Deleted mine, noticed no difference.
They block VPN users most of the time nowadays if you’re not logged in.
Fuck their little “network security” bullshit!
I like to use drug related subreddits that you can’t view without logging in
Not as useful now that so many of us who left Reddit deleted all of our comments on there. Broke a lot of those question and answer threads.
I have never gotten a reliable answer from a quora result. I avoid them like the plague now.
I’ve only ever seen Quora as a joke, I didn’t think people were actually getting good answers there.
Quora is off brand yahoo answers. All of the misinformation and none of the humor
And a vaguely intellectual name, as if knowledgeable people go and post there all the time, when its’ actual academic facade is more analogous to stock photo models wearing labcoats and goggles.
Hit the gym. Delete reddit. Lawyer up.
Reddit used to be really cool for actual niche advice without getting slapped with advertising. I tried to buy a certain kind of laptop, all the results were ads that contained those words, not what I was looking for. Heaven forbid I want pants that fit a certain body type or anything specific. Sometimes there are still older posts but…eh.
I mean I kinda agree with this. Reddit is turning into Twitter with the all the censorship tbh
This is the way.
I deleted a year ago and can count on one hand the number of times I’ve used reddit since.
I don’t think using it for Google counts at all anymore because that’s Google’s fault. I occasionally look at r/beermoney for ideas but that’s it. Haven’t looked at the front page in a year.
There is a disenshittified version of google out there, for now at least: udm14.com.
Every time I’ve used it, it’s for info on a home improvement project. Being that my browser blocks ads, they get nothing from my interactions.
I’m using Qwant, which is the French government search engine, pretty good!
