Let’s not forget bot/AI generated websites that just copy paste some irrelevant content template but fits your search terms, and then feeds you tons of ads when you thought you found answers to your questions.
google “How to do X?”
AI pages are always like this
- X is very useful
- ads
- X is used for a,b,c application
- ads
- Generic advice about how X can be done which everyone knows
- ads
- One line in the entire page which nudges you towards how to actually do X
- ads
- You should really try X
10/10 best impression XD
There are a little bit of variation for other stuff, but they have their templates. Say if you look for some specific thing “the earliest super nova documented” then chances are it will guide you to wikipedia or some valid sources.
But if your search term contains anything that was trending on google, say if you search some hot game’s tip, etc. There will be pages and pages of AI generated contents, from some domain you don’t really recognize. (so better put ign or gamefaq or Fextralife/fandom wiki as search term now. )
I hadn’t even considered the quantity of ads on those sites… Any time I accidentally find one, it’s a long column of text that starts off with a bunch of filler roughly related to whatever I was searching for, maybe a couple of lines with an answer (right or wrong is a different matter), then breaks down into a bunch of self-contradicting nonsense. I just don’t see the ads because of uBlock Origin, so I never see how bad they are. AI generated sites are completely aggravating.
I also don’t see the ad with ad block, but when you see the not working weird space or failed embeded blocks, sometimes a same site reference link etc to other not related topics(highly likely to have finger printing) it’s like “okay, fuck, they got me again.”
Yeah, I’ve been there. It’s just so aggravating, but I try to find comfort in knowing that at least I wasted a small bit of their precious bandwidth!
I pretty much only use google to search other web sites, like “thing im searching for” site:beehaw.org or whatever. It’s completely useless otherwise.
The thing that upsets me most about this article is that when I try other search engines, I still find myself needing to use Google to find certain things. Usually that’s information or questions and not products, but if it’s this bad for Google I can’t imagine it’s any easier on the others.
I just use chatgpt 4. Much better at answering questions.
ChatGPT has no concept of truth or sources. It will straight up lie to you.
It’s nice for “creative” stuff but never, ever take its responses at face value.It’s generative so it will generate plausible answers with no consistency of truthfulness.
We have common(-enough) sense to be able to pick up on whether it’s being sensible or not, after which we take to search engines. Search engines are now the fallback; a friend of mine and I have nearly totally replaced search engines with ChatGPT as the primary way of quickly, initially getting info now. If you stay aware of its limitations, it can be life-changing in a positive way.
Relying on common sense for critical information is a trap. You’re “googling” because you don’t know. The incorrect answer might be just plausible enough for you to believe it. This is why credible sources are important, to act as a sort of fallback to authority (I trust “source X” to provide correct information).
I think Google peaked about 6-8 years ago now and then started slipping at an ever accelerating rate.
It’s almost useless for me when searching anything remotely technical or otherwise niche.
I almost consistently need to go to the second page of results now, something I don’t remember doing since like 2009.
I find Bing acceptable. Brave search works well. But I’m actually using Kagi now since I’m hoping their paid model will actually mean I’m not the product.
duckduckgo is my go to now, but not out of lack of usability. haven’t used google for ~4-5 years for privacy concerns
