There is an insane amount of content on the Internet which will not be returned in a query, no matter what you enter. More than half. More than 90%. Probably even close to 99%. Yes, you will get better results than the competition. No, it is not better by much.
And I don't go to page 2 anymore because Page 2 will always have garbage on it. I remember in the old days, in the 90's, I could search and get 5 or 10 pages of unique pages. They might not have all been entirely relevant, but they might have been interesting reads nonetheless. With today's Google search, I get about 3 or 4 typical relevant results, often from the same websites vomited out from the top 50 from Alexa 500. And then a lot of spam, computer-generated web pages after that.
There is no hope for anyone who wants to independently publish "a web page", anymore. I realize that this isn't something easily solved due to the fact that the Internet is vastly more populated now. But I don't think the system that we have in place, with Google, is anywhere near the level of sophistication that we can achieve as we approach the 2020s. We have this narrative that Google is such a vastly powerful collective, and that this is the best that they can come up with, and therefore that's what we have to work with, as Internet users. My post was not to show that I have all of the answers, but to illustrate the fallacious reasoning which deters people from even attempting to solve the problem.
Folks, as long as we continue that mindset, that's how things are going to continue to be.
I believe you are right and I am very careful to say things about curtailing search results. The problem ofcourse being that I am a weird person who’s mindset is set mostly in binary; when I search for something, I will find the answer or not. Life does not work like and possibly a more nuanced approached will be better. However I am also deterred by that same life; people want simple and want it now. Like I read that we walk on the back of our feet instead of the front because we are lazy, we levitate to anything that is easier. Even if it is worse, even for the individual.
But in general I agree with your rant; please experiment! I just do not believe it will take hold easily. And they article seems to suggest so.
And I don't go to page 2 anymore because Page 2 will always have garbage on it. I remember in the old days, in the 90's, I could search and get 5 or 10 pages of unique pages. They might not have all been entirely relevant, but they might have been interesting reads nonetheless. With today's Google search, I get about 3 or 4 typical relevant results, often from the same websites vomited out from the top 50 from Alexa 500. And then a lot of spam, computer-generated web pages after that.
There is no hope for anyone who wants to independently publish "a web page", anymore. I realize that this isn't something easily solved due to the fact that the Internet is vastly more populated now. But I don't think the system that we have in place, with Google, is anywhere near the level of sophistication that we can achieve as we approach the 2020s. We have this narrative that Google is such a vastly powerful collective, and that this is the best that they can come up with, and therefore that's what we have to work with, as Internet users. My post was not to show that I have all of the answers, but to illustrate the fallacious reasoning which deters people from even attempting to solve the problem.
Folks, as long as we continue that mindset, that's how things are going to continue to be.
/rant