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Google has changed their search results. Maybe on mobile they look great but on desktop the results look like ass and don't give any good information.

Going to try a few other search engines because as it stands Google is very nearly unusable.

Google image search has gone down hill completely. I was searching for old Hollywood stars and the top results were not even the actor I was searching for. Then over half the page was not the actor at all.

So that thing 10 minutes ago wasn't something going wrong on my end, the whole thing looks like that now...

Well, shit.

You can get the Tampermonkey extension for Chrome and download the "Better Google" script from GreasyFork. I can attest that it works, but (a) I shouldn't have to do it this way and (b) who knows how long it'll work before it breaks.

I’ll have to look into this when I get home and am not on mobile/tablet, but for now does Duck Duck Go still work?

—Patrick

I just did a search on desktop and it seems normal to me. Could you screenshot to show what you're seeing (preferably a non-porn search)?

blotsfan said:

I just did a search on desktop and it seems normal to me. Could you screenshot to show what you're seeing (preferably a non-porn search)?

Click to expand...

I actually can't unless I disable my fix, which I am loath to do. Let me find a screenshot from the multitudes of people who are bitching about this. Seems it's a rolling change so it affects people at different times. Possibly to mitigate the outcry?

edit: Here's the Reddit thread talking about it.
And the screenshot from that thread, although I think it's a terrible example:



This morning when I was searching for reviews of the "magic nutrient pillow" the UI was unusable and looked like all I had was spam links.

That's the issue? The URLs and the logos? That seems like a nothing update to me.

blotsfan said:

That's the issue? The URLs and the logos? That seems like a nothing update to me.

Click to expand...

Use it a while. I said the example was terrible. When I used it this morning it was fucking terrible.

blotsfan said:

That's the issue? The URLs and the logos? That seems like a nothing update to me.

Click to expand...

They're also clearly formatted it to look better on mobile, so half my screen is white on PC.

Dave said:

I actually can't unless I disable my fix, which I am loath to do. Let me find a screenshot from the multitudes of people who are bitching about this. Seems it's a rolling change so it affects people at different times. Possibly to mitigate the outcry?

edit: Here's the Reddit thread talking about it.
And the screenshot from that thread, although I think it's a terrible example:

Spoiler

This morning when I was searching for reviews of the "magic nutrient pillow" the UI was unusable and looked like all I had was spam links.

Click to expand...

I was at work and was thinking "google looks fine to me"...so I opened it to double-check, and *wham* got this shitty UI. I spent the next 5 minutes ad-blocking all the portions that sucked. Maybe they'll get the message if enough people do that.

Basically, after every 5 URLs was something injected into the search results. Ads, shopping links, google image search results, youtube video links etc.

Tried it here.
Google search results only take up the leftmost third of my screen with a big white void to their right.
Changing my browser agent to simulate Firefox/Chrome/etc results in no change, even when I change the user agent string to be something valid but clearly wrong (Firefox version 98, for instance).
I’m putting myself in the camp of people who think “Must prioritize the mobile experience!”

Going through DuckDuckGo shows essentially the same behavior.
(DDG aggregates your search and proxies it to Google for you, so a search through DDG is a search through Google, just without your identifying info attached)

—Patrick

Use Ecosia.org, it's not terrible and plants trees*


*apparently with horrible business practices, but hey

Did Google not realize that one of their biggest selling points was how clean their interface was? Cause seriously, what's the point of adding the little icons? Useless clutter.

Oh hey @Dave ? About that:

Google’s latest search results change further blurs what’s an ad

Users of Google search on desktops may have noticed a slight change over the last week and that change is affecting what they perceive as an ad. This represents a further blurring of the lines between ads and organic sources in search.

Click to expand...

—Patrick

Yup. It was painfully obvious from their change that this was an intended result. Again, though, I don't see this thanks to the script I have on my computer.