Do you keep getting spammy content and pages full of ads when you really need answers from the search engine?
Has your Google experience declined in the past few years? These questions have almost broken the internet as more and more issues have started to arise with Google search.
In response to the question on Reddit about whether Google search is getting worse, thousands responded that they were not finding what they were looking for.
The term “Google” has come to represent the concept of internet search during the past 25 years.
Dictionary definitions of “to Google” include undertaking an internet search utilizing any service, much like how “to Hoover” refers to using a vacuum cleaner.
But the overall quality of Google search results has declined in recent years.
Why is that? Let’s talk about what’s wrong with Google Search nowadays!
Google search user experience
Spam is common, the results are getting less and less helpful, and occasionally Google just looks too intelligent for its own good.
Besides, there seems to be a larger trend at play in the apparent downfall of Google’s search engine, which is that the modern internet’s dependence on adverts and AI is actually degrading the user experience.
The decreasing quality of search results and the requirement to use search phrases like “Reddit” in a query in order to obtain responses authored by people are some of the major problems that Google is now facing with respect to search.
The rise of AI-generated sites, which may trick Google’s algorithm to rank toward the top of search results even when the pages are of average quality, has been one of the problems.
Google has made an effort to address the issue by making changes to its search algorithm and filtering out “unhelpful” content.
Google has started using “featured snippets” to answer questions and display information right on the search engine without letting users click on a page. But is that enough?
Potential causes behind the worsening Google search
We have listed a few potential reasons which might cause this bad experience:
One-sentence web pages
Before we try to answer the burning question of how Google search experience has declined, let’s get a legit definition of what a webpage is.
On the World Wide Web, a web page (also known as a website) is a hypertext document. A web server sends web pages to the user, who then sees them in a web browser.
A website is made up of several web pages connected by a common domain name. The term “web page” refers to a collection of paper pages that have been bound into a book.
Google rates listicles that require a user to keep clicking to read an article one line at a time as having a poor user experience. You know, the “Top X” content.
There have been websites recently that display the content through multiple slides rather than in text. That’s quite annoying, but it has been the latest trend. More and more web pages are being added to Google in a similar format.
Ads spamming
There is a growing consensus that the current internet’s dependence on marketing and AI actually degrades the user experience.
The main reason Google search seems so much worse than before is that the business model that makes it so enormously profitable is incompatible with a useful product.
Google advertising accounts for more than 80% of Alphabet’s income. At the same time, Google accounts for around 85% of all search engine activity worldwide.
It is obvious that selling advertising while also having control over the majority of global online searches has huge business benefits.
Google generates revenue by displaying ads that are relevant to your searches and the information it holds about you.
This implies that you will initially see advertisements while looking for a straightforward program, a recipe, or some information about a medical condition.
However, if search results are subpar, people will turn to other sites like TikTok. It’s simple to understand how their desire to continue being relevant can end up harming them in the long term.
SERPs sre marketing tools
Sites that were ranked for informational inquiries were sometimes criticized for having a commercial orientation.
This leads to the circumstance where an information search leads to websites that are marketing or selling a product.
Most individuals believe that rather than providing information, the majority of Google results are just shopping guides.
Google only displays Amazon, Ebay, and other similar commerce URLs when you try to search for anything conventional and unintelligible like deodorant.
Despite what we already know about search engines, their primary purpose should still be to educate users about relevant information and raise awareness of it. A “shopping” tab seems pointless if everything is about shopping.
Google constantly tweaks search to attempt to forecast what users will want, but as a result, entire businesses seek to saturate search results with low-quality imitations of what users desire.
Force scroll through pages to find content
This is plainly visible in the search results. Internet users are becoming less and less willing to scroll down the page or devote more time to stuff below the “fold,” according to studies (the limit of content on your screen).
As a result, the top spot in the search results becomes increasingly important.
Sites with informative queries that required users to scroll past pages of text in order to find the answer they were seeking were another example of a poor user experience that was brought up.
Such pages are mostly created to mislead people into scrolling through ads and irrelevant content using clickbait methods. Yes, clickbait has become a “thing” in the 21st century.
Google algorithm is run by AI, not humans
The worst thing that humans can imagine is being influenced by artificial intelligence (AI).
Numerous low-quality websites that may have been put up by AI rather than a person are presented to the millions of individuals who seek information on nutrition and health globally.
In place of only searching text strings, the search engine now employs advanced “natural language processing” software called BERT, introduced in 2018. BERT aims to determine the purpose behind a search.
AI is totally messing up the entire search engine experience. Is there any escape? Even though its search engine service may be dominant, Google also offers services in artificial intelligence, healthcare, autonomous cars, cloud computing, computer equipment, and a wide range of home automation gadgets.
So, here’s the truth – even if we are able to break free of Google’s control over our online browsing, customers will soon face a whole new set of difficulties.
Few tips that can make google search better
Even if you cannot get past the ads or the corrupted digital marketing system, we have compiled a few tips that can help you get a better experience on Google:
Try using tabs
The first piece of advice is to use Google’s search tabs. Each search has a number of tabs at the top.
Web, Images, News and More are often displayed. You may use these tabs to determine the type of search you need to do.
Use the Image tab if you require images. Use the News tab to search for recent news articles.
The majority of people already utilize the tabs, so it’s simple. It is strongly advised that you become affiliated with them if you are not already. If properly used, they can drastically reduce search times.
Use quotes on keywords
Use quotes when looking for precise terms to reduce Google’s need for speculation. Putting your search criteria in quotation marks instructs the search engine to look for the entire sentence.
For instance, if you type in Red Wool Blanket, the search engine will look for anything with those three words in it, regardless of their placement.
However, if you write “Red Wool Blanket” in the search bar, it will look for that same term. This can assist in locating certain information that, if not properly sorted out, might be hidden behind other stuff.
Use hyphens to exclude words
You could occasionally find yourself looking up a term with a murky definition. Mustang is an illustration.
You could see results for both the Ford automobile and the horse when you Google “Mustang.”
Use a hyphen to inform the search engine to disregard material containing the one you wish to remove. See the illustration below.
Mustang -cars
This instructs the search engine to look for mustangs but to disregard any results containing the term “vehicle.”
Finding knowledge about something without learning about anything else might be quite beneficial.
Use the colon to find particular websites
You might need to do a Google search for articles or other information on a certain website at some point. We’ll demonstrate the very basic syntax for you below.
Notion Tech site:youtube.com
This will only search youtube.com for content related to our website.
Other search results won’t be displayed anymore. This is the shortcut you can use if you need to find specific content on a particular website.
Find interlinked pages
This is one of the best tips you’ll find for looking for relevant content. This Google search advice is a bit cryptic. You’re looking for a page that links to a specific page rather than a single page itself.
Consider it in this manner. You would use this approach to identify all the websites that link to a New York Times story if you wanted to know who mentioned it on their website. the following syntax:
link:shineoglam.com
This will produce a list of every page that contains links to the Shine-O-Glam website. Any URL can be entered in the box on the right.
Some frequently asked questions:
Why is my Google searches different?
Searching on Google Search may yield similar results for you as for someone else.
But occasionally, depending on factors like time, context, or personalized results, Google might present you with different results.
Why has Google changed results?
The variations in Google’s search engine results are completely intentional, as the company strives to deliver the most relevant and accurate results possible for each individual user.
Location, personalization, and algorithm changes are the main causes of users’ inconsistent results on Google.
How do I make Google search more accurate?
To improve the accuracy of your search results, you may add symbols or phrases. Any punctuation that isn’t part of a search operator is often ignored by Google Search.
You can look up the blog for tips on how to make your Google search more relevant and less spammy.
Is everyone’s Google Search the same?
No, that’s the simple answer. The results of Google searches vary from computer to computer.
The Google search results you see are affected by many factors, like personal preferences, location, search history, and Google’s algorithm.
Is Google search always correct?
So, this is quite a good question, and the shocking answer would be: no, Google search results aren’t always relevant or correct. As difficult as it may be to accept, the search results that Google returns may reflect the viewpoint or ideology of a specific content creator.
As a result, the responses you receive from Google don’t necessarily come from reliable, knowledgeable sources.
Does Google know everything I’ve ever searched?
Google frequently compiles a lot of data from the cookies we allow websites to receive. Google virtually always monitors everything you do on your Android phone when it’s connected to the internet.
They want to track you much more if you use Google products. Google not only keeps track of everything you’ve ever looked for on the site, but it also keeps track of every YouTube video you’ve ever viewed.
In the end
This is made even more true by the fact that Google search results are frequently incorrect and only intended to create clicks rather than to provide you with information or assistance.
It’s a frustrating scenario, but it also suggests that even a business as apparently impervious to upheaval as Google may be vulnerable.
That also wouldn’t be all that horrible. Then, at least, we could truly succeed in finding what we’re seeking.
