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Researchers confirm what we already knew: Google results really are getting worse
(www.theregister.com)
this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2024
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I understand the post OP but I'm replying to a comment. Specifically this part...
I take it what OP meant is that a lot of the top results are ads - even if they aren't shown as such. Like how half the crap uploaded by large youtubers these days is pretty much an ad for a specific product, although there's no way to tell until you click onto it (unless you use sponsorblock)
The ads you see injected in your search result as "sponsored" are not the only way Googles Ad interests affect your search results. They are actively manipulating your search queries to make them point more towards their paying customers wanted result without you noticing.
Yeah. That's why i use an ad blocker
that's not something your adblocker can suppress
It absolutely is.
how would your adblocker affect something going on in googles backend?
It affects what is displayed to me in the browser window. No backend needed. It sees "sponsored" and hides them.
And if you read my comment again, that's not what I was talking about
Fair enough. But i will say that with the adblocker i can find what i need a lot easier and is usually a top 3 result if not the first.
Definitely. Not having half of the first page being ads helps a lot