Excellent Reads

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Are you tired of clickbait and the current state of journalism? This community is meant to remind you that excellent journalism still happens. While not sticking to a specific topic, the focus will be on high-quality articles and discussion around their topics.

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How Google perfected the web (www.theverge.com)

submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by oyenyaaow@lemmy.zip to c/longreads@sh.itjust.works

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We often hear about the latest engagement hacks on other platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or X, formerly known as Twitter. But Google is consequential above all of these, acting essentially as the referee of the web. Yet deep knowledge of how its systems work is largely limited to industry publications and marketing firms — as users, we don’t get an explanation of why sites suddenly look different or how Google ranks one website above another. It just happens.

Bit by bit, the internet has been remade in Google’s image. And it’s humans — not machines — who have to deal with the consequences.

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[–] Deceptichum@kbin.social 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Perfected?

[–] oyenyaaow@lemmy.zip 8 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I think the editors at The Verge have a greater mastery of the sarcastic tone than me.

[–] sbv@sh.itjust.works 3 points 7 months ago

The article complains that websites twist themselves out of shape to game search ranking with SEO so they can sell ads. Google doesn't provide transparency on exactly what changes SEO because they don't want rankings gamed.

I dunno what to say. Ads are shitty for consumers. Websites that exist solely to sell ads risk turning into content farms (e.g. bOingbOing).