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by TeMPOraL 2624 days ago
> I wonder if this will be Google’s downfall one day. Some AI enabled competitor will come up with a search engine that delivers exactly what you’re looking for instead of the most engaging content.

A search engine that consistently delivers English language Wikipedia as the first link for any query that has a related term on it is a search engine I'd switch to today. Google used to be like that, with a Wiki link in the top 3 results for pretty much anything I searched for. These days, I'm happy if it'll be on the first page, and this is the first time after dropping "verbatim search" that I felt Google search engine to significantly decline in quality.
4 comments
NegativeLatency 2624 days ago
Tried duck duck go? In my experience it’s better for getting to Wikipedia for stuff like you describe
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TeMPOraL 2624 days ago
Years ago; didn't stick to it. I guess it's time to try it again, thanks for the reminder!
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ColanR 2623 days ago
It's seemed to get a lot better in the past 6-12 months.
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NegativeLatency 2622 days ago
I switched on my phone only and it’s been a much better experience.

No AMP either.

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njsubedi 2624 days ago
I use DuckDuckGo for the exact reason. And sometimes when I'm sure I need a wiki for a keyword, I search for keyword !w and it takes me directly to the wiki page.
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C1sc0cat 2623 days ago
That is assuming

1 That Wikipedia does have the best answer (problematic for YMYL searches)

2 The searchers intent is informational queries - not much point in showing Wikipedia for a "buy" query

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TeMPOraL 2623 days ago
RE 1. I can't imagine any YMYL search for which Wikipedia isn't an order of magnitude better result than content marketing garbage that currently occupies the top spots. Sure, the official website of the relevant government or organization would be best, but Wikipedia is almost always second best, and currently neither of those are the most likely results to get.

I know in theory Wikipedia isn't trustworthy, but in practice, it is good enough, and its form does a lot of work here. Most entries are structured to be information-dense and fluff-free (unlike the content marketing crap), and they cite their sources (unlike both content marketing crap and many official government sources). This overall makes it one of the most useful resources for generic health queries.

RE 2. I wouldn't complain if I was doing "buy" queries. I don't do those often anyway (for similar reasons I don't use shops for product discovery[0]).

--

[0] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19643059

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marcosdumay 2623 days ago
You mean, like Duck Duck Go?
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