Google using the search page to promote Android

[OneFootInTheGrave]

cch-ch-ch-ch changes

to this

http://duckduckgo.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuckDuckGo

silly name, but I will even put it up as my homepage... let's find out how long will I manage to live without Google...

[SlowwHand]

http://www.metacrawler.com/

[DaShi]

OMG! Does Apple know about this?!!

[Asher]

They've got a chromebook ad on the front page now. First ad I've ever seen them have on the front page.

The reason I switched to Google from Yahoo back in the day is because Google was all about the search.

Wait. Are you for real?

They make zero money from search.

[Asher]

on the front page and not blockable... is the current innovation

I'm not sure how unblockable it is. I've never seen anything you guys are referring to.

[Aeson]

Wait. Are you for real?

They make zero money from search.

You're having trouble with reading comprehension. Hope you get that straightened out.

[Asher]

Google is all about ads. Search is a means to an end, as is webmail and Google+.

[Aeson]

No, to start Google was all about providing the best search experience they could. Ads were kept off to the side, and their own reasoning for that was to keep them from cluttering up the actual search results. They pointed out ways that other search engines were placing ads in a way that makes the search results less useful to the searcher... and promoting their search engine as being better because they don't go for such obnoxious ad placements.

Then they go an implement those types of ad placements.

It's a fundamental change in their mindset, from trying providing the best search experience to simply trying to wring the most money out of the searcher.

[Asher]

I think you're a bit naive sometimes.

[Aeson]

The ad placements on Google have obviously changed dramatically over the years. Don't be so dense.

[Asher]

I'm not saying they haven't. I'm saying they've always cared most about advertising. That's where they make all of their money.

I also can't recall the last time I've ever seen an ad on any Google property.

[Hauldren Collider]

adblock

[Aeson]

I'm not saying they haven't. I'm saying they've always cared most about advertising. That's where they make all of their money.

Of course they care about money. But their ad placements in the past and present speaks volumes about the change in how much they care about providing the best search results they can.

I also can't recall the last time I've ever seen an ad on any Google property.

Leech.

[Asher]

Of course they care about money. But their ad placements in the past and present speaks volumes about the change in how much they care about providing the best search results they can.

The quality of the results is independent of the ads.

Leech.

Am I, though?

I've written one of the most popular apps on the Android marketplace in Canada. I've done my share.

They also give out phones like they're candy, including to me. They're not worried about it.

Plus I am pretty sure I've never, ever clicked an ad in the entire history of the internet. I avoid them on principle, even if I do ever see them.

[Aeson]

The quality of the results is independent of the ads.

No. When they put ads in among the results and push the results down the page it makes the results less user friendly. This is something that Google itself identified early on, pointed out as a failing in other competitors, and continues to hold as an evaluation policy for sites in their index. By their own estimations and policies, their search results are less user friendly now than they were before.

Am I, though?

I've written one of the most popular apps on the Android marketplace in Canada. I've done my share.

It seems to me that whatever voluntary action that you, your employer, and Google perform in that regard was done with full consent of all parties. As such the exchange of value should be regarded as equitable. If you wrote it on your own time and donated it as a free app I would say you've done more than your share in that arena.

You're still a leech on the search engine and 3rd party websites (or advertisers, depending on how the ad space is bought) that display ads that are blocked though.

I avoid them on principle, even if I do ever see them.

That seems ridiculous. If an ad brings useful information or a quick path to what you are looking for why would you avoid clicking on it? It's also a mindset that would destroy a lot of value on the internet if widespread.