has anyone here noticed how frustrating Google's and Youtube's search algorithm are?

[Equippers]

I have noticed with Google but particular Youtube, type in the right keywords does not always bring up relevant websites or videos.

For example, recently I was searching for this video on Youtube, I type in the right keywords and the video I was looking for never came up, instead I got bunch of other videos, pages after pages, that does not contain the key words. I actually stumbled on the video later on, that is why I know the video was not deleted. This is the worst case scenarios obviously.

but I definitely noticed this on Youtube, when I type in a certain keywords, often not "all" the videos with those exact keywords would come up, and many times, they don't come up in the first page, and you would only find them on the fifth or the sixth pages so on and so forth.

Google search is not much better.

I find it really frustrating.

by the way, I should also add the searches I have done were not related to politics, they were on sports. So I know the reason for what I am talking about has nothing to do with censorship (I know it exists, which is very unfortunate, but those issues are not what I am referring to here)

honestly, I think part of the problem is Google and Youtube are essentially a monopoly and they no longer need to worry about their customer satisfaction anymore!

 

[teddyv]

Are you searching while logged in? I have not personally noted a problem, but I don't do searches that often as I subscribe to numerous channels for the content I like.

[The_Patriot21]

No not really...but then again just about the only thing i watch on youtube is demolition ranch and music videos lol.

[Marathoner]

No problems here, but then I'm experienced at plumbing cyberspace for information. 

Google isn't a monopoly, my friend; their search engine isn't the only one out there. Have you heard of DuckDuckGo? I highly recommend DDG, an excellent privacy-oriented search engine. DDG is one of many alternatives to Google's search engine. 

The same applies to YouTube. Google acquired the entire ball of wax and using their trademark "behavior modification" system, have maintained the illusion that YouTube is the same as it has always been which, of course, isn't true. Why did Google do this? To retain as many YouTube users as possible, of course. Ah, but YT is a streaming service and as such, it isn't the only streaming service out there. The internet is overflowing with streaming services. 

My primary issue with Google revolves around their behavior modification regime. Unethical in my estimation. When we get down to it, the internet is a smoke and mirrors scheme. If you're able to see behind the curtain so to speak, then you'll be able to side-step behavior modification gimmicks which seek to influence your clicks. Clicks?

Yep, clicks. Clicks = money. Unfortunate but true. 

Edited March 4, 2022 by Marathoner

[debrakay]

I have not used google or youtube for years.  I have private family videos stored on youtube which is my only use for them.  I have always tried to stay away from major producers of anything.  My kids hated that I would not spend money on brand names. Monopolies are not good and I hated playing the game as a youngster which I took into my adult life.

[debrakay]

14 hours ago, The_Patriot21 said:

No not really...but then again just about the only thing i watch on youtube is demolition ranch and music videos lol.

I will go find an archaeology dig, a history documentary or a good sermon once in awhile. 

[Ghostdog]

im always on youtube. i rarely have any trouble finding vids i want sometimes it does take some digging but yt pushs popular vids upfront. they want videos with the most views to be seen wich doesnt help small content creators until they get big enough to be on the first couple of pages. its suspose to encourage competion i guess.

[OneLight]

Facebook is a site that I have been backing away from as it is slowly allowing offensive material to remain, and I have experienced if I report nudity, their reply is that it is not against their policies and it remains, even when it blatantly states it is against their policy.   They also show the same stuff day after day, rarely changing it.

YouTube is a strange mind game as it tries to guess what you would like to see.  The problem is, they are thinking in worldly terms while I am not.  What YouTube has over Facebook is on YouTube, you can tell them you do not want to see anything from a certain user, where on Facebook, on their watch page, you cannot block them.

It could be worse, and I sure do wish there was a Christian alternative to both.

[Marathoner]

If you're into using an Android smartphone or tablet, here's some advice:

Download the DuckDuckGo privacy browser from the Google play store and use it exclusively. Google is sneaky. Google is not our friend, and yet they offer the DDG app. Good! 

Google owns the Android OS and so they've engineered their scheme to track whatever you do on your Android device regardless of the application in question. This is data mining, an enterprise which empowers/informs their behavior modification algorithms, giving Google insight into your habits so they may better to learn how to manipulate you. This isn't necessarily about power or control, my friends. Nope. It's all about money and the enhanced acquisition of it. 

Think of the old-fashioned carnival barker. In days of old, advertisers understood the value of the "hook" whereby their chances of capturing the interest of their mark (us) are increased exponentially. The barker issues the challenge (sets the hook) and the mark takes the bait. 

Data mining makes it possible for the carnival barker to modify their hook and bait to take advantage of your interests (and also what doesn't interest you). The cyberspace carnival barker can cast millions of hooks custom-tailored to each mark that passes by. 

The DDG privacy browser blocks snooping by other applications and the Android OS, effectively thumbing a nose at the modern age carnival barker. Is DDG foolproof? No, but any impediment we can toss in the way of our good friend Google is a good thing. Google and Facebook want to know everything you do on your phone/tablet. $$$Ka-ching$$$ for them and their clients. 

Toss a fly in their soup. 

[Marathoner]

@OneLight touches upon the dark heart of the internet. It really is a mind game.

For example, I visited Duluth Trading Company's website on my laptop and looked at boots... gloves... and waterproof coats. We've had some severe weather here and since part of my duty involves the outdoors, I need to be adequately protected in frigid temperatures. How can I help a homeless vagrant exposed to sub-zero temperatures on the street if I'm in the same boat? I dress warmly enough to where I can wrap someone in my heavy coat and take them to safety. 

I've experimented with this, of course. Later on, I used the chrome browser on my phone to do this or that and lo and behold, the screens were festooned with cold-weather clothing ads. How far does this go?

Our email and text messages are mined as well. A colleague who doubles as a bow hunting guide sent some photos of fancy arrows he crafted in his shop one night (he made tracer arrows)... I'm not interested in such things, but found the tracer arrows an interesting concept... and acting on a hunch, I used chrome afterward. Sure enough, the pages were decorated with hunting and fishing advertisements. Heh. 

The simple mention of a keyword in an email or text message is enough to make YouTube, the BBC, and just about every other commercial website in cyberspace churn out ads associated with the keyword(s). Pathetic. 

This also applies to images. 

If this offends you, then the only answer is to unplug and steer clear of the internet entirely. 

Our brother @Justin Adams will appreciate this. The ambient environment surrounding a digital device is also mined for data. Yep, our smartphones and tablets spy on us. This is something I've experimented with and verified by repetition. The device does not have to be "on" in order for this to occur. The device only needs to be in close enough proximity to capture speech. 

I keep my smartphone in a back pocket since I use it extensively on the job to communicate with colleagues and emergency services. I'm not the least bit interested in bands, celebrities, shows and the like, but if someone in my proximity is talking about this band or a particular product (like pumpkin spice tea, ewwwwwww), then Google dutifully saturates every app (with the exception of the DuckDuckGo browser) with ads pertaining to what they said. 

Ads for pumpkin spice tea. Blergh. 

Edited March 4, 2022 by Marathoner