Halfway through the year, Google implemented a couple of major algorithm changes to the way it searches. These were known as the Penguin and Panda updates. And I’d just like to put on record the personal opinion that these changes have officially made Google suck big time. And I think that Google search might have finally Alta Vista’ed itself.
I’m not just saying this because the changes put the boot into many of my top 10 listings, though goodness knows I’ve been suffering because of it. I’m saying it because Google is no longer giving me a good search experience as a USER.
I am now having a lot of trouble finding information easily because Google is not giving me relevant results anymore. And I’m also getting incredibly frustrated because of the decision to include multiple pages from a single site into the search results, meaning I have to scroll down a LONG way to find alternative results from another site.
I’m sure you’ve experienced it too. Type in anything and Google gives you about 20 listings from Youtube, before, say, the Wikipedia entry. If you’ve got your settings on 100 entries per page, you can end up scrolling halfway down the fucking page before finding what you’re looking for.
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Example from yesterday: I was writing up my post on great moments in masturbation history. As a preliminary search I typed in “masturbation milestones” (without the quotes). I got no less than 21 results from the same baby and parenting site. Plus dozens of others. OK, so “milestones” was a bad choice. Unfortunately “masturbation history” didn’t do much better. This post from Search Engine Rountable shows that I’m not the only one frustrated by it – and it’s been going on for months without Google bothering to tweak anything.
The thing is, I’ve been putting up with this without really being aware of how annoying it is because using Google is so embedded in my surfing habits that I just automatically type stuff into the URL bar without a second thought. It’s only in the last few weeks that it’s really become glaringly apparent to me just how much Google sucks now. And I’m talking Alta Vista-type sucks.
If I may get out my walking stick and make the screen go wobbly, Scooby-Doo-style, I’d like to invoke the early days of my internet experience, back when Google was first launched. Everyone used Alta Vista and we all did our best to get good listings on it. But then they started over-cramming the main page with crap and the results became really bad. Into the void stepped clever, clean Google with its ridiculously relevant search results and I instantly became a fan. And Google stayed clever… up until a couple of years ago.
Now it seems that they’ve sabotaged themselves for money. Now the aim is to get us to click the sponsored links because they’re more relevant (or they’re at the top of the page and you don’t have to scroll). They’re giving priority to Youtube because they own it. Google is riding the long tail, relying on rusted-on users like me who use the site purely out of habit.
What to do? I need a new search engine and I don’t know who to turn to. Bing? Ew. I’ve hated it from the start… even though I have no idea why, now I think of it. Yahoo? Nope, too busy. There’s DuckDuckGo, which should have become the new Google except they chose the dumbest name in the entire universe. What to do?
Here’s a few other people wondering if Google has jumped the shark
Is Google’s “Over Optimization Penalty” Its “Jump The Shark” Moment In Web Search?
Did Google just jump the shark?
My Take: When Google officially jumped the shark
Small update: Having written that I hate Bing and then pondering why (I think it was an anti-Microsoft thing), I thought I’d give it a go. Wow. The results are instantly better. Not as good as Google used to be… but certainly a huge improvement. Looks like I’m moving my allegiance over to Uncle Bill. For a while at least.