Dormammu, I’ve come to bargain

Thanks! So it’s some sort of guidelines Google and other search engines laid out which can be exploited to maximize visibility. Very annoying indeed

I’m late to the party and I don’t understand several things I read in the comments, so I need to ask for clarification.

What is Google’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? I looked it up, but the websites StartPage was giving me were not useful (probably ads or spam sites). Is finding these ads/spam sites the problem?

How is this a search engine’s fault? I mean, if the internet is now made by walled gardens and spam sites, search engines have trouble finding something really relevant, but how is it their fault?

I should add I navigate logged out on Firefox with the Ublock Origin and NoScript extensions (among others) so I at least don’t see Google’s ads.

I agree there are some searches where it’s next to impossible to find informed sites from spam ones: just a week ago I was looking for “Best Nintendo Switch games released in 2023” and I got lots of dubious blogs, and even when I got hits from IGN, GameSpot or PcMag sites, I realized I don’t know if any of these last sites are genuine or bought out (and checked the Wikipedia for more wisdom about their veracity), but how is it the search engine’s fault to not navigate through seas of crap?

When I search for academic things, Google or StartPage still seem to give me useful answers.

I have been wary about searches related to reviews about anything, but it just seemed to me the internet is a worse place now in general (because of walled gardens and spam)

Disclaimer: I’m late to this whole discussion and I also don’t understand some things (I don’t fully understand what SEO is and why it’s bad, though from the comments I understand it’s part of what’s making search engines worse nowadays)

Given that: I also made some searches where I wouldn’t get anything good in the first pages, but that seemed to be dictated by the amount of spam sites too, isn’t it?

I mean, I use the Ublock Origin and NoScript extensions for Firefox and search logged out of Google, so I don’t get advertisements, but I agree that, depending on what I search, I need to fight through large amounts of crap to find something good. Still I don’t understand (and it’s my lack of knowledge in this) why it’s the search engine’s fault for not being the best and hiding spam sites

Honest question: what you’ve described is very disturbing (having to wade through lots of bot reposts), but why would this be Google’s fault (or DuckDuckGo’s or Bing’s or StartPage"s or Kagi’s)?

I’m not trying to save the search engines since they’re also out to make a profit, but if half the internet is spam, why would this be a search engine’s fault? I mean, we can complain it’s not sophisticated enough to navigate through the crap

Fixed: added second paragraph

Oooh, I think you’re right. I was so carried by the reality of all the statements that I missed that the 2nd and 4th panels feature statements which are diametrically opposite.

Thanks!!!

I’m still not laughing, but I get the twist and why it’s funny!

Edit: fixed grammar

I had to read it three times, because I didn’t find it funny at all in any sense and I was trying to find a funny twist, but I didn’t succeed. It’s too real for me

I suppose maybe they’re still useful innovations if they can be made with minerals which are more available.

Probably, we could achieve a balance between one type and the other, but I’m daydreaming now…

That’s very interesting. If they can be used at home or in cars that don’t require batteries with a very large capacity, then that would be really good to counter the scarcity of lithium (and hopefully, help the environment too)

Interesting! So it would make sense to have tons of sodium batteries for all purposes for which one doesn’t need maybe higher capacity or performance as I understand lithium batteries offer

Question to anyone who might know more: would sodium based batteries be better than lithium ones for the environment, in terms of recycling or disposing of it?

In case they are indeed better, would they be better because it’s better to use less lithium in general (so if you use more sodium based ones, you use less lithium) or would they be also better because their own disposal is “nicer” (as in less toxic) for the environment?

Ahem, what about car rentals when you travel? 😜 Just kidding: in this case you know very well you’re not owning the car and only using it for a very short time

I’ve gotten used to just accessing Lemmy through the Eternity app.

How would I look at the graph showing instances and which ones are connected to each other?

It reminds me of a fattened Batman’s tumbler

Disclaimer: I am neither knowledgeable enough about economics nor the Mercosur situation.

That said, I have an honest question for whoever may want to chip in: why would a single currency be bad or good in the case of Mercosur?

On one hand, I could see a single currency simplify trade over there and be perhaps less volatile than all Latin American currencies, on the other I see very different economies and so the opposite might happen (aka, they’re so volatile that the single currency would fluctuate in weird ways due to country X or Y having different scandals or issues)

I suppose my question is if asymptotically it may help stabilize all countries a bit or it would just not work amid such a diverse pool

Edit: fixed grammar

I don’t disagree with you!

I just would like to see certain niche communities grow here too because Lemmy is great and (so far) it feels like the conversations here are nicer, so I’d like people to move here to make Lemmy even better

Ah, I hadn’t noticed this level of worsening. I suppose because when I visit I still go to niche subreddits and there the impact is less noticeable (but you do notice it).

I suppose great moderators have left the platform and they’ve been replaced by others who would like to be as good (but are crippled by new Reddit rules allowing many more trolls) or those that just don’t care or are straight crazy!

Well, I still visit Reddit once a week since there are communities there that don’t yet exist here (or they are nearly empty).

I’m now all the time on Lemmy and am even much more active than what I ever was on Reddit, but I only have so much time.

I noticed there are slightly less quality posts in some subreddits, but I wouldn’t call Reddit crushed.

In fact, subscribers in all the subreddits I used to follow are actually up and even by a lot, while Lemmy users don’t really seem to increase by much (though I’d like them to).

I’d like to see a sudden growth in Lemmy and fall of Reddit, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near (though I’ll keep doing my part here!)

Eternity does that too, when you click on the comment button you can change the account from within the comment

Yay for Portal and Portal 2!!!