Google is no good for me anymore.

[THERESA]

Sorry Raven but you read that right. Google is no good for me anymore. I am highly frustrated with them lately.

Do all of you remember the good old days (not that long ago) when you would look for a business website and google it and the top search result would be a link to the website you were looking for? Apparently those days are over. :mad::censored1: Now you google a business looking for their website and you get one full page long of links to maps showing you how to get there with their address and phone number. IF you are lucky enough to even find the one that you really want, it is BURIED with JUNK that I have no interest in. If I wanted a map, I would MAPQUEST IT STUPID!!!!:banghead:

Didn't the internet practically make knowing phone numbers of businesses obsolete? I remember when the internet was blowing up and companies were scrambling to get their sites up and running. It was horrible for those of us that didn't have computers. I remember countless times that I would look on a product for the phone number to contact them and there was no phone number, just a website. It was very frustrating.

Go ahead, pick a business and google it. Is the actual company website even close to being the top search? If so, I'm surprised. Google has blown it in my opinion.

[Big Dan]

Google's good for somethings namely searching out odd topics or for technical help with specific model numbers. One of Google's biggest problems is spam, search engine spam that is. Basically dubious webmasters, make up pages with keywords on them then link to them from hundreds or even thousands of sites to game the system. That is to get top rankings for specific keywords. What they do with these sites is sometimes place ads on them in an attempt to you to click them OR put nefarious software that exploits your browser security in an attempt to build a botnet.

I've always thought Yahoo was best for phone numbers and business searches.

[THERESA]

Excuse me if I'm wrong but aren't they supposed to keep ahead of spammers at all costs. They are really losing their integrity as far as I'm concerned.

[Big Dan]

Yes, they are. I agree with you but one cannot help but wonder how hard it is to combat hundreds of thousands of dubious idiots. Most of which aren't truly idiots they are some pretty smart dubious webmasters.

[harryn55]

I just googled 6 businesses and did not have any problems. Although Wendy's did come up with maps it also had phone numbers for each store and a link to click on for each and that was only the first choice the rest of the choices on the page were without maps.
What companies are giving you trouble?

[Kaos]

Personally I have never liked Google results, I am simply forced to bow down to their almighty rules because sadly too many people use google and I need them to come visit my sites. I agree with Dan, specific searches like "wendy's" are ok, but when you google something like "Syracuse News" or something more generic, the results are typically filled with MFA sites which drives me NUTS!

[Raven]

I don't use google for phone numbers and addresses. I have special tools that I use because of the work I am in. But yes, google is out there in left field like all other businesses trying to climb the corporate ladder. I use other search engines as well. I just call myself a googler cause thats what everyone understands. Noone would understand if I said I was a Good Search (http://www.goodsearch.com/). That search engine you can put in your favorite charity and they pay the charity each time you search. I guess you can figure which charity I use. Kids Defense Team (http://www.kidsdefenseteam.com/news.php).

[THERESA]

I just googled 6 businesses and did not have any problems. Although Wendy's did come up with maps it also had phone numbers for each store and a link to click on for each and that was only the first choice the rest of the choices on the page were without maps.
What companies are giving you trouble?


You may think you didn't run into a problem if you didn't actually click the links they showed you. Lots of them LOOK like the site you are looking for but they aren't. I recently googled East Ridge Animal Hospital Rochester NY.

here is the link to the page you get

http://www.google.com/search?q=east+ridge+animal+hospital+rochester+ny&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8

The results are for maps and JUNK. (Dr. Balonek is the vet I use) I was pulling my hair out trying to find their actual website a few weeks ago when my cat was sick. :banghead:

Another one I recently googled was jackson's bakery rochester, ny

here is a link to the page it offered
http://www.google.com/search?q=jackson%27s+bakery+rochester+ny&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8

Again, Maps and junk and sites that you can go to write a review about them. Not the actual website.

Here's another- Physical Graffiti (where I get my tattoos)

here are the results

http://www.google.com/search?q=physical+graffiti+rochester+ny&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8

Google sucks. :censored1:

[Kaos]

Hey, East Ridge used to be my vet LOL. just thought I'd throw that in the mix to totally get off topic :offtopic:

[THERESA]

Dr Balonek is the best. They are always super busy and it's tough getting through sometimes on the phone but their prices are good. They're worth the wait in my opinion.