Hating Google search results more and more

[Rob_F]

All that screen clutter, sidebar, maps with a million 'pins' in it, pretty much a full page of directory type listings. Masses of paid ads polluting the organic results, and growing daily.

Search queries overridden 'showing search results for blah blah, click here to display search results for the search string you actually searched for'. So I click to redo my search and then I still get 'Did you mean *' Grrr!

I'm totally fed-up with them. I wish they'd stick to what they do best, organising and indexing websites, and stop trying to take over the world. I half expect to pop down to my local chippy and see GChips plastered above the shop .

- Rob

 

[Cumbria4]

I could not agree more.

 

[Pred]

totally agree

 

[springer]

I shouldn't think that Adwords advertisers are to happy either.

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&biw=...aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=f03547294aa22d29 map follows you when you scroll down going over the ads.

 

[GreyWing]

They are starting to suffer from "mission creep", It happens to all eventually. Organisations start to lose focus on what made them succesful in the first place. But that leaves gaps for those new companies that will no doubt fill it.

 

[scooter]

It's like a giant yellow pages.

When you click on "place page" you are given all contact details instead of going to the site? . If you then click on the website link, it opens in a new window?

Also, the "write a review" section is bad. Open to serious abuse. All it takes is a couple of negatives and a local small business could struggle.



.

 

[Ashton]

I must say, I love how they have made the pink so light that its almost white. -.-

 

[wb]

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&biw=...aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=f03547294aa22d29 map follows you when you scroll down going over the ads.

Haven't noticed that before, very annoying. Nearly all hotel searches get flooded with local results and maps/information, not great news for hotel domain owners especially...

 

[aZooZa]

They are starting to suffer from "mission creep", It happens to all eventually. Organisations start to lose focus on what made them succesful in the first place. But that leaves gaps for those new companies that will no doubt fill it.

Never a truer word said.

 

[Cuailean]

But that leaves gaps for those new companies that will no doubt fill it.

Yes, very true. I find myself now using Bing much more when I'm searching in earnest (as opposed to doing domain research). Not that Bing is perfect either, but it seems to consistently get you where you're going faster. Much less superfluous distraction. They're also not cheeky enough to override your search terms with their 'superior' search strings and present you with a load of irrelevant crud - at least they haven't emulated that Google feature yet

For years searching to me meant Googling, but now increasingly I'm Binging my way round the net! I think the sooner the big G looses it's strangle hold on the Internet the better, especially for domainers and site developers.

 

[miked]

It gets better! Now site previews will obscure the right of the results page:

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/11/google-instant-previews/

 

[Blossom]

I'm starting to have issues with Google that I've never ever come across before. When I'm searching (Instant is on), then the results will change as I'm typing as usual, but then when I finish typing, the page suddenly goes completely white & stays that way (whether I've hit enter or not).

It's not all the time but it's extremely annoying - has anyone else experienced this? Using FireFox & Win 7.

 

[aZooZa]

It gets better! Now site previews will obscure the right of the results page:

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/11/google-instant-previews/

They'll overcook their goose soon. Grabbing images can be sensitive.

 

[Edwin]

They'll overcook their goose soon. Grabbing images can be sensitive.

And showing them on a mouseover can be even worse! Imagine an "ambivalent" search where say 80% of the results are mainstream and 20% are adult in nature (because the search phrase happens to mean "something else" in the adult realm).

Under the current setup, no big deal. The snippet in the SERPS provides plenty of warning so that you can skip inappopriate sites. But with a single accidental mouseover you could be literally looking at stuff you really DON'T want to see and which moreover could in theory (depending on exactly what the search triggered) even land you in prison just by looking at it!

 

[fish]

And showing them on a mouseover can be even worse! Imagine an "ambivalent" search where say 80% of the results are mainstream and 20% are adult in nature (because the search phrase happens to mean "something else" in the adult realm).

Under the current setup, no big deal. The snippet in the SERPS provides plenty of warning so that you can skip inappopriate sites. But with a single accidental mouseover you could be literally looking at stuff you really DON'T want to see and which moreover could in theory (depending on exactly what the search triggered) even land you in prison just by looking at it!

Isn't the default not to show such images as you are suggesting that could get you arrested? you'd have to actively change your search preferences to include 'dubious' content where then you'd be at the mercy of CEOP and other agencies (quite rightly so too). Most mainstream search engines have filters that exclude filth and let's be honest you're not going to stumble across such sites by accident.

 

[Systreg]

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/11/google-instant-previews/

I'm not seeing any of these image previews, maybe it doesn't show on Opera browser? Also, from that link above:

The addition comes just a month after Google debuted Instant results, where searchers on broadband connections get results in their browsers as they type, making the Enter button nearly obsolete.

I also don't get instant search results changing as I type, only the predictive suggestions change with each letter I type, the results remain the same until I hit enter, and I don't know about anyone else, but I never look at the suggested search phrases, I just type and hit enter.