DISQUS

Allen Stern · 2 years ago

This reminds me of the mockup I did a couple of weeks ago (click my name) about if Google put video ads on their search results. It's pretty close to what I had, without the ads part... Someone at G is hitting the "ok" button too quickly I think.

Allen Stern · 2 years ago

Oops - looks like the website box is limited on chars... here is the link:
http://www.centernetworks.com/mockup-what-if-go...

mrshl · 2 years ago

What is unfair about this? And what is evil? This is a pretty helpful feature, I'd say.

The word you should be looking for is "compete." That's what they're doing. What would you say if Microsoft or Yahoo had done it first? Would you still look askance at Google? People aren't stupid. They'll find what they want. And if they decide they'd rather click through to yet another page to see the video, I'm sure that's what they'll do.

Pete Cashmore · 2 years ago

mrshl,

Right, but Google claims to have objective results, and to do no evil. If they're offering enhanced linking to Google Video and YouTube, then that could be considered anti-competitive. Even if users don't click through, they'll still boast about all the streams they're serving.

I know that MySpace and Microsoft get away with this stuff (actually, Microsoft didn't get away with it), but people have higher standards when they judge GOOG.

SorenG · 2 years ago

Bad, very bad idea.

Rob Scherer · 2 years ago

I can see why people think this is a bad/evil idea, but I'm not sure. If GOOG were artificially inflating the ranking of YouTube or Google Video links then that would be evil. Providing an enhanced experience for users is good. It is still a click away (have to expand the link) and if it means that I don't have to open a new tab to preview the video then that is great. I'm not convinced that this is such a bad idea.

whoeveriam · 2 years ago

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&...

My visit to the above URL did not reveal what is in your screenshot. Did they take down the video results already? Or did they take down the video results just for that particular search?

That was fast.

Google has pasty-faced henchmen (I think they're called "lawyers") reading every damn thing written about them anywhere...no one will say that and just get it over with...I will. All big companies like theirs basically stalk bloggers and read their own news obsessively.

Google is particularly nefarious for the fact that while they seem to stop an offending action altogether, (like after Blake Ross' recent article about them featuring themselves in Sponsered results they *seemed* to stop that practice) what they *actually* did was scale back the amount of search terms used to trigger their ads in Sponsered results, to cut down on the amount of complaints they get for the practice and to stop some people from noticing it altogether.

They didn't actually stop being evil, they just changed their tactics.

Sort of like them rewriting an algorithm...it's something they're pretty good at, even if the results are far from what's desired.

Jason · 2 years ago

I think it is silly how people get in an uproar about this. Google can do waht htye want with their service. If you don't like it, don't use it or go start your own search engine. Its their product/company and they can do as they see fit. Why wouldn't they want to promote their services?

Moataz · 2 years ago

How is this different than Google showing "Image Results" for certain searches in the SERPs? I find that quite useful. I don't think this is evil.

Marco · 2 years ago

I FUCKIN LOVE IT!!! U GO GOOGLE!

and revver and those other video pages suck shit!!! they're soo not popular.. EWWWWWW

Pete Cashmore · 2 years ago

Well, I think Google have their answer: most people think it's ok.

If that's the general consensus, I expect they'll expand the experiment over the coming months.

Ben Buchanan · 2 years ago

If they do it for two video services they should do it for all. But actually I would rather they didn't do it at all!

The point of search is that you get a link to content. I do NOT want the content mashed into the search results! I'd much rather go to the full-featured YouTube page.

So in terms of usability, they're breaking the search paradigm by displaying content, not search results.

So... it's not really evil, but I certainly don't like it ;)

flavio viara · 1 year ago

os lek do rp