9mo ago

Annoyed Redditors tanking Google Search results illustrates perils of AI scrapers

arstechnica.com

Technology @lemmy.zip

BrikoX @lemmy.zip

9mo ago

Annoyed Redditors tanking Google Search results illustrates perils of AI scrapers

arstechnica.com /gadgets/2024/10/fake-restaurant-tips-on-reddit-a-reminder-of-google-ai-overviews-inherent-flaws/

13 comments

By adding "site:reddit.com” to search results, users can hone their search to more easily find answers from real people.
I’m convinced that media that keep saying this are in cahoots with advertisers who have noticed this ages ago and have astroturfed Reddit beyond being reliable source of information since then.
- Yeah, it's really weird that people keep acting like Reddit hasn't been astroturfed to shit for years at this point. I wouldn't trust the product reviews I see there.
  
  What I find not only strange, but extremely suspect, is that people who acknowledge that reddit has been heavily astroturfed deny up and down that it's also happening here.
  
  Just like it took a decade for media and mainstream to pick up Reddit, it'll take a decade for that to seep through.
DDG only recommending older Reddit answers as a result of the Google deal may be a net positive for it then.
- Occasionally when I'm searching for something, I'll check out some Reddit links and honestly it's a crapshoot as to whether half of the comments have been deleted or not. Useful search results are getting to be a pain to come by.
  
  It is rough isn't it? It used to be that you'd get the forum style answer, now most of the people who wrote those deleted their accounts.
  Pre-2019 searches that resulted in deleted comments happened, but rarely. Post Exodus it is now very flippant on the results you'll get.
  
  Maybe those comments are still up in Internet Archive.
people often turn to the Reddit hack to make Google results more helpful. By adding "site:reddit.com” to search results
HACKERMAN
before:YYYY-MM-DD
you know what’s funny to me, that when large organizations manipulate the apparent consensus on Reddit about a topic, that’s “clever marketing” and “innovative campaign techniques”.
When a bunch of random people collectively organize to do it suddenly it’s a “dangerous”

13 comments