[marsRoverDev]

They're being rightly trashed because it's a SEO tactic and nothing more. Between the preamble ranking them higher and Adsense requiring "substance" in order to monetise the page, there is a systematic issue that's leading to what is essentially useless information to what I would say is the majority of people.

They're very welcome to write their life story, but I bet if google changed their algorithm slightly you'd see it disappear - and I'd say that would be a good thing.

[hombre_fatal]

My god this level of cynicism is such an eyeroll.

HNers writhing over each other to be the most cynical and dismissive.

For fun, can you link me to a highly ranked recipe page with a bullshit SEO story on it in line with "the camping trip in North Dakota when Susan's husband first discovered his love of homemade sour cream"?

[scrollaway]

A few comment above yours is this link talking about the healing power of cooking after 9/11: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017089-maple-shortbread...

Two days ago, I made this absolutely delicious "5 minute tiramisu": https://wishesndishes.com/5-minute-tiramasu-dip/ - That page doubles as a sponsored article, too (see disclaimer).

But just to prove your point and make you happy, and also because I'm hungry, I googled "sushi recipe idea" and clicked the first link that, without fail, talks about the very special valentine's day Tom^Wthe author and her husband spent years ago and how sushi is now a tradition.

https://www.fifteenspatulas.com/homemade-sushi/

This isn't a cynical thing. Go to fiverr.com and search for "write recipes". Here's the first result that comes up when doing that: https://www.fiverr.com/francosalzillo/write-text-around-a-re...

That's the more professional version of it. The guy's highly rated and it looks like it's his actual job.

[jefftk]

Your first link is a recipe from 2001-09-19, which seems like strong evidence that it being written around 9/11 wasn't motivated by modern recipe SEO?

[scrollaway]

What did I claim?

[jefftk]

Your parent asked "can you link me to a highly ranked recipe page with a bullshit SEO story". I was showing how your first link wasn't an SEO story.

[sethammons]

Searched Beef Stroganoff Recipe. Result 1 from Betty Crocker was good. Here is the 2nd result:

https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/easy-beef-stroganoff-recipe/

You have to scroll halfway down to get your ingredients list after learning that her husband is a vegetarian, getting a history of the author cooking mostly plants before anyway, getting a lesson on what egg noodles are and, finally, the ingredients.

[tmountain]

https://www.garlicandzest.com/julia-childs-boeuf-bourguignon...

"When I woke up that Sunday morning, it was a crisp 68°. I opened every window in the house (the first time we’d aired it out since April) and put on a pair of jeans and a light long-sleeved shirt. While Scott was busy appraising his fantasy football rosters, I was searing beef and taking pictures."