Hmm. Using the search term “small website discoverability crisis” . . .
On duckduckgo: original website is the third result (after what looks like a SEO firm’s longform ad and ycombinator) without quotes and the first result with.
On startpage: original is the first result even without quotes
On mojeek: original is the first result even without quotes
I do not have accounts with any of these search engines and do not allow them to run Javascript or set cookies, although it’s possible that duckduckgo may have noticed that someone with my ip often makes highly specific searches and looks at the long-tail results.
My conclusion from that, combined with other people’s searches surfacing large sites first, is that the results you receive can be significantly distorted by the search engine’s algorithm. Google in particular is likely trying to direct traffic to its advertising customers and should be avoided for that reason.
Hmm. Using the search term “small website discoverability crisis” . . .
Well, do you think that it’s realistic that the average user types that into the search engine’s website ? When you already know the exact title of the post on that website, you probable already know the full URL and don’t need a search engine. So, that has nothing to do with “discovering” in my opinion, which the blog post is about.
Point is, people are using the wrong tools to look for stuff. So it’s a social problem more than a technical one. Those are always the most difficult type to solve.
Hmm. Using the search term “small website discoverability crisis” . . .
On duckduckgo: original website is the third result (after what looks like a SEO firm’s longform ad and ycombinator) without quotes and the first result with.
On startpage: original is the first result even without quotes
On mojeek: original is the first result even without quotes
I do not have accounts with any of these search engines and do not allow them to run Javascript or set cookies, although it’s possible that duckduckgo may have noticed that someone with my ip often makes highly specific searches and looks at the long-tail results.
My conclusion from that, combined with other people’s searches surfacing large sites first, is that the results you receive can be significantly distorted by the search engine’s algorithm. Google in particular is likely trying to direct traffic to its advertising customers and should be avoided for that reason.
Well, do you think that it’s realistic that the average user types that into the search engine’s website ? When you already know the exact title of the post on that website, you probable already know the full URL and don’t need a search engine. So, that has nothing to do with “discovering” in my opinion, which the blog post is about.
there’s at least 3 layers of finding stuff:
First result on mojeek! Sounds like discovery of the site is great then
Point is, people are using the wrong tools to look for stuff. So it’s a social problem more than a technical one. Those are always the most difficult type to solve.
The only problem is that we need to change the behavior of about four billion people
first result now in ddg