[p49k]

They aren't just doing it for simple utilities, they are literally trying to create some kind of "box" above search results for every possible query, subjective or objective. "Best movies of 2019", "What are the ingredients of pancakes?", the name of any store, restaurant, location, etc.

[cycrutchfield]

And if they are producing results better than the blogspam that ends up in the top result, how is that a bad thing?

[p49k]

They are stealing the (often wrong) answers from the blogspam and putting it in their own box - how is that better? They should just filter out the blogspam - that’s ostensibly what a search engine company should be investing their time doing.

[dazilcher]

> They are stealing the (often wrong) answers from the blogspam and putting it in their own box - how is that better?

Saves a click and the ordeal of loading a gazillion quasi-malicious ads posing as information. Much better in my book.

[p49k]

It’s slightly better to load the (often wrong) blogspam answers into a box than to link to the blogspam, although in doing so, it gives the wrong answer more authority. It’s much better to actually spend resources to filter blogspam from results and link to quality sites which have done actual research.