[doctorpangloss]

I don't agree that the monetization of the Web has degraded the value (to the user) of links on sites other than links on sites aren't the primary discovery mechanism like they used to be, which is actually a good thing (IMHO).

When hypertext was still conceptual and imagined in microfiche, links were still the primary discovery mechanism of new or related content. I think that idea has stuck around for over 50 years because it is intuitive. It reduces whatever models you might be imagining for discovery into a simpler form.

Google may command the top spot on visited websites, but people use it so often to just open a wikipedia article with the exact query. This suggests Vannevar Bush understood some mechanics of knowledge acquisition better than Larry and Sergei did.

The OP is right. There are fewer links on blogs, and he helped me understand why.

[saraid216]

It's worth noticing that, in Google+, only one link gets a first-class position in any given post. If you want to throw down a fuller list of citations, it's a lot less visible. To me, this says that Google subconsciously understands what they've done and have chosen not to fight it. Or they just don't know how and have given up.

[npsimons]

"Not knowing how" and "giving up" seem very un-Google-like to me. Give it time.

[moheeb]

If "giving up" seems un-Google-like to you then you haven't been around very long.

The number of services, applications, and ideas they have shut down is probably nearing the hundreds.

[yozmsn]

What did Einstein say about failure?