# Google jumps the shark **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 26, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882 "2011-10-26T17:51:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/21 "2011-10-26T19:46:59Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > eBay is getting this way too. I look for Golden Earring CDs and such, they are always changing it to Earrings. No that’s not what I was looking for and now there’s a ton more crap to search through. Amazon MP3 had this issue for me when I was looking for a band called The TV Sound (New Romantic pastiche.) The pages were full of TV soundtracks. Nope, those artists are not called The TV Sound. They’re fuggin’ soundtracks. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/22 "2011-10-26T19:47:53Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Nah, because your Chicken Little theatrics are way out of proportion to the issue. As others have pointed out, it can be circumvented by simply using quotes around individual words. But this was not your original point. Your original point was simply that Google is free, and is the only game in town, so the complaint was “ridiculous.” The fact that you have now changed you argument to address the substantive issues doesn’t change the fact that you started out by threadshitting. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/23 "2011-10-26T20:13:49Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > OK, I noticed that Google results had got a lot less reliable in the last few years, but, distracted by the severe annoyingness of _Google Instant_, I never figured out quite why So I’m not the only person who hates Google Instant? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/24 "2011-10-26T20:29:48Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Not really. You might want to find a page that has two specific terms, but those terms might not run together. > > These two searches are not the same: > > cold +war > > “cold war” No, but cold +war is the same search as cold “war”. You could also search for “cold” “war”, which is not the same as “cold war”. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/25 "2011-10-26T20:34:52Z")
What needs to happen is that all of you stop bickering. Discuss the pros/cons of what Google is doing and how much you like or dislike it, but please! Lay off the sniping at each other. Ellen ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/26 "2011-10-26T20:35:40Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > So I’m not the only person who hates Google Instant? Upper right corner \>\> Click cog \>\> Search settings \>\> Google Instant \>\> Do not use Google Instant. It sure is evil that they made you go through all that trouble to turn it off though. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/27 "2011-10-26T20:36:20Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > So I’m not the only person who hates Google Instant? Nope, it [del]success[/del] [del]succotash[/del] [del]suction[/del] sucks. ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/28 "2011-10-26T20:47:14Z")
I wasn’t aware Google ever used search terms. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/29 "2011-10-26T20:51:03Z")
It’s almost certainly so they can repurpose the + for people search in line with the Google Plus usage. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/30 "2011-10-26T21:14:34Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > So I’m not the only person who hates Google Instant? I didn’t realize Google Instant still existed. I turned that functionality off in “options” within a few days and forgot all about it. > [@Shalmanese](#): > > It’s almost certainly so they can repurpose the + for people search in line with the Google Plus usage. Didn’t realize Google Plus still existed either. I heard a lot on Facebook about people quitting Facebook and making the switch a few months ago, and all of those people are now back on Facebook and not talking about it anymore. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/31 "2011-10-26T21:40:46Z")
I’ve never liked Google, I just tolerate it. I miss Alta Vista. Genuine boolean language support. (until they silently wrecked their own search engine… maybe it’s a disease they get?) ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/32 "2011-10-26T21:42:28Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > It sure is evil that they made you go through all that trouble to turn it off though. Making your customers do a bunch of extra work to turn off an annoying “feature” is not evil, it’s just bad business. Turn off an easy to use and easy to remember function (+), replacing it with an oddly constructed and non-intuitive function (" ") is bad business too. Get annoying enough, and folks will start using other free search resources, and whoops, there goes your main source of revenue. You may be the biggest and best game in town, but people are fickle (see Netflix). ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/33 "2011-10-26T22:05:59Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > . . . By the way, does anyone know whether, if you use the Google _Advanced Search_ page (at least that is still there, for now), and use the “Find web pages that have…all these words” box, it really does do whet it says on the tin? Or does it act like the main search page does now, and silently decide for you that you don’t _really_ want to include some of those terms? As of last month, it would do it in Advanced, too. I’m actually glad to hear this. I don’t do many complicated searches and that one last month had me banging my head against a wall. I thought I was doing someting wrong. I was looking for a certain type of policy or procedure enacted by a citiy government in one state only. And the answers were all over the place. Different policy types, could be a city or county or agency or company, and any state at all. Hundreds of pages of totally useless. Switching to Advanced changed nothing. Calling out specific cities changed nothing. Just lots of useless. I felt totally gaslighted. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/34 "2011-10-26T22:22:19Z")
I hate typing in something, having Google correct it, and then searching for ‘what i meant to say’ instead of what I was actually typing because I hit the ‘enter’ key at the wrong time. This happens all the time on my Droid. A few weeks ago out of curiosity, I thought I’d Google myself. “\*\*Citizen Pained \*\*gay” was the first suggestion. (Well, my real name, but you know what I mean.) What the hell? Are my students having fun with me? ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/35 "2011-10-26T23:13:34Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Making your customers do a bunch of extra work to turn off an annoying “feature” is not evil, it’s just bad business. I dunno, I actually like the instant search. But it’s so easy to turn it off that if you don’t like it, that’s not much of a complaint. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/36 "2011-10-26T23:47:38Z")
Oh and sorry for the double post, but it’s not “a bunch of extra work”. It takes literally 5 seconds. 10 if you are really slow. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/37 "2011-10-27T10:32:21Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Oh and sorry for the double post, but it’s not “a bunch of extra work”. It takes literally 5 seconds. 10 if you are really slow. It takes forever if you don’t know that it’s a changeable setting. That’s the trick, Google’s customer needs to know that it can be changed, and where to change it, to make it go away. Along with the + being replaced by “”, that easy change is not easy at all if you didn’t know about it. Now, you can puff yourself up and laugh at anyone who isn’t as clever as you, but that’s a very dangerous attitude to take when you’re laughing at your customers. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/38 "2011-10-27T13:04:04Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > What needs to happen is that all of you stop bickering. Discuss the pros/cons of what Google is doing and how much you like or dislike it, but please! Lay off the sniping at each other. > > Ellen FTFY: “Discuss” Google changes -bickering -sniping … I use Google extensively in my work–particularly when fact checking–and the ability to include/exclude certain words or phrases is essential (among other things). It’s a small-scale PITA for me to include quotes, and I hope Google receives enough complaints to change it back. If that’s the only change, it’s more shark-toe-stubbing than jumping, but it’s a downgrade nonetheless. I haven’t had similar experiences to **Yllaria** yet (and most of my work is in international policy, so I have the issue tenfold), but maybe I just haven’t noticed. Question: how would I get the following old-school search to work: \*+building “flying flibbertigibbets” “tempestuous teapots” \* I want the results to always include _building_ and have either the phrase \*flying flibbertigibbets \ ***or** _tempestuous teapots_. Is it: \*“building” "flying flibbertigibbets " OR “tempestuous teapots” \* ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/39 "2011-10-27T13:25:33Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Is it: > \*“building” "flying flibbertigibbets " OR “tempestuous teapots” \* I just tried this and yes, that seems to work. “X” “Y” OR “Z” returned both +X +Y and +X +Z (as well as +X +Y +Z), and each of those three combinations were returned in the first page of results. ---
**Author:** ![Krouget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b38774/32.png) [@Krouget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krouget)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882/40 "2011-10-27T13:40:26Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Making your customers do a bunch of extra work to turn off an annoying “feature” is not evil, it’s just bad business. There is nothing “bad business” about it…it’s merely a preference you can toggle, via 3-clicks, in a simple list of search settings. Many people actually like the instant feature (though I disable it on my mobile devices). An inability to turn it off, period, would be bad. > [@](#): > > Get annoying enough, and folks will start using other free search resources, and whoops, there goes your main source of revenue. You may be the biggest and best game in town, but people are fickle (see Netflix). Netflix is an example of an overblown situation that doesn’t reflect the total picture, but Google has actually made a lot of improvements to their search and interface, especially for account users. Their suite of services has been improving, if you ask me. Of course its not for everyone, so you will always have a flow of people opting to use other search engines/services, while new users will jump on board, in the reverse case. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-jumps-the-shark/600882.md?page=3)