It just seems to me that anymore when I search on Google, the first 50-100 hits are from one site. Sometimes it’s amazon, so then I put “-amazon” in the search box to eliminate amazon hits and get a broader range of results.
It feels fishy to me. And not as helpful as Google used to be.
I’m going to go with malware. None of those searches result in the return you got. Unless you’re putting forth a hypothetical - but if so, couldn’t you try to replicate the results for us so that we can see what you’re talking about?
Is bikramyogapodunktx.com a useful site that actually helps you find a good yoga place in Podunk, or is it like a backpack-girl cybersquatter page? Are you sure you’re in the regular search section and don’t have any filtering options on?
No, I didn’t get that part - why obscure it? I redid your example using a real place. Searching “apartments rent indianapolis indiana” don’t return what you’re talking about. Maybe you could link us to search results that show the issue.
Okay… here’s a real example. I put “yoga dallas texas” into the search box and I got this.
Scroll down past the specific yoga studios and you get to 12 hits on the one site www.livingyogadallas.com/
How come they get all those hits on the first page? It looks like every page of their site turned up as a separate hit. IMHO that doesn’t qualify as very good search results, and I"m wondering if they pay something to Google to make sure they come up so high with so many repeats.
This kind of thing happens with other searches, too.
Nor me. When I click your link I get just one hit on that on site.
Howevre, note that it is normal for different people to get different results for the same search on Google these days. Google tailors our results according to your location (inasmuch as it can detect that from you IP address), and, if you are signed in to Goggle, according to your previous searches.
To show us what you get, you would need to take a screen shot of the page and post it somewhere.
It is possible malware is involved in what you are seeing, but www.livingyogadallas.com/ does seem to be a legit site and legitimate result from that search.
I’m sure “livingyogadallas” is a legit site. Interesting that y’all don’t get the same number of hits that I do. Is it because I’m in Texas? I’ll take a screenshot here in a sec.
You do realize Google gives different results to each user?
The best you can do is try it with your cookies cleared and ideally on a browser you don’t normally use. See if you get the same results. (But remember, your results change based on geo too-- if you are located in Texas you get different results than someone in Seattle doing the same search.)
Anyway, I can’t replicate your results, I just wanted to try and get people to realize that Google hasn’t delivered the same results to the same people for like 5 years now.
I know Google gives different results to different people and at different times.
I’m never signed into my Google account.
Interesting: I just did the same search (“yoga Dallas Texas”) on my kindle fire-- different device, different browser (Dolphin), presumably different cookies, and I have gps turned off-- and I still got multiple hits on “www.livingyogadallas.com.”
Okay, so you understand that different users, entering exactly the same search, will get different results. How much do you know about what is going on here?
One very possible explanation is the search engine filter bubble. As noted above, depending on where you are and depending on who you are (if you are logged in), Google will use everything it knows about you to deliver results tailored to what their algorithm decides you most likely want to see.
Even in the light of the search bubble, it is very odd that I, in the UK (and not logged into Google) get just one result of www.livingyogadallas.com (and many others that seem to relate appropriately to yoga in Dallas), CathyG, actually in Dallas, apparently gets much the same as me, yet ThelmaLou (also in Dallas, or Texas somewhere) gets a whole slew of links to pages at that site on her first page (presumably the other sites that I and CathyG are seeing are getting pushed onto subsequent pages).
ThelmaLou, have you actually tried clearing your cookies, like Blakeyrat said? If you use your Kindle to browse some of the same sites, it might have acquired some of the same cookies. Also, are you quite sure you are not signed in to Google. I think that once you have done it once, it keeps you signed in forever unless you explicitly log out.
If it is not that, I can only think it must be something weird going on with your ISP (assuming the computer and Kindle are connecting through the same account).
I thought it might be related to using the “I’m feeling lucky” button instead of the regular search button. I don’t think so now, though.
A little further looking around suggests to me that Google’s search algorithm, which takes into account things like what it assumes your interests are, is the culprit here. There is lots of discussion around your problem on the web.
