Reading this is nuts. Google changed its algorithm...

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Reading this is nuts. Google changed its algorithm and websites are on the brink of death. This is what gatekeeping is doing.

Hate to see it, as Retro Dodo is one of my favorite websites. I read their articles almost every day. I got their book and backed/preordered the upcoming two which might never be released now.

If you are into Retrogaming or are interested in modern handhelds, consider bookmarking their website and supporting them.

https://retrododo.com/google-is-killing-retro-dodo/
#gaming #retrogaming #retrododo

Like 4 April at 7:06 | Open on ruhr.social

26 comments

Néstor

google is far, far away from their 'don't be evil' roots.

It is actually one of the biggest actors of the internet enshitification.

4 April at 10:58 | Open on hubzilla.nixadmin.es

Usagi

@ichderfisch@ruhr.social Apparently it's not a new thing:

http://onlineslangdictionary.com/pages/google-panda-penalty/ :blobcatnotlikethis:

4 April at 11:39 | Open on moe.onl

Chadee the Dream Witch 🌕 🌊

@ichderfisch I wondered why over the past few months every search has reddit results that I don't want and never wanted near the top.

Google search has become useless for me.

4 April at 11:43 | Open on beach.city

Dennis 🆙

@matoakit same, these reddit search result are the worst. Back in the day you could block search result for complete urls. I’m missing that feature terribly.

4 April at 12:00 | Open on ruhr.social

Kat the Leopardess

@matoakit @ichderfisch Same here. I don't have an idea what is the better search engine to use, bc I'm choosing everything based on dealing with the terrible disrespect for privacy, present in many browsers and websites

4 April at 14:37 | Open on meow.social

Neo-Luddite Gregly

@ichderfisch @eniko We used to joke about Yahoo vs Google. “There’s no way Yahoo will be able to maintain a curated tree of Internet sites when anybody can just search for stuff on Google,” we said, and at the time we were right.

But given today’s web, now I’m wondering if some sort of curated database of links, perhaps combined with a distributed “curator trust rank” system, is the way to go.

4 April at 11:58 | Open on retro.pizza

Mike Switzer

@gregly
Between the AI and the algorithms there may be no other choice for a usable Internet
@ichderfisch @eniko

4 April at 12:29 | Open on mstdn.party

thegreekgeek

@gregly
We need a federated web directory, like a mix of del.icio.us and lemmy.
@ichderfisch @eniko

4 April at 12:31 | Open on mstdn.io

Da_Gut

@gregly @ichderfisch @eniko Up your donations to Wikipedia, because it will get more important.

4 April at 13:15 | Open on dice.camp

James 🦉 #FBPE :europe:

@gregly @ichderfisch @eniko This feels on the emerging zeitgeist's pulse. The RSS feed has returned (at least, for me - just got Feedly). I would say a large proportion of what I find still comes from social media though. For what purpose though? To peruse, muse and to read, sure, but to get a specific answer to something instantly? The search engine still has its place or, dare I say it, LLMs?

4 April at 13:17 | Open on mastodon.green

ಚಿರಾಗ್ 🌹✊🏾Ⓥ🌱🇵🇸 (he/him)

@freequaybuoy @gregly @ichderfisch @eniko LLMs have no conception of 'truth', so no. Search engines still have their place, but increasingly they're becoming shit (DDG is still reasonable and I'm trialing Stract).

4 April at 13:23 | Open on mastodon.online

Kern 🏳️‍🌈

@gregly@retro.pizza @ichderfisch@ruhr.social I've been having similar thoughts, perhaps friends could share lists of bookmarks and then those sites could be indexed on our own hardware

4 April at 15:08 | Open on hol.ogra.ph

Railmaps

@ichderfisch I am seeing something very similar with daily visits to railmaps.com.au (80% of which are from google search) falling away significantly with a cliff in September 2023 when I understand Google released a major algorithm update. And this is in a time period when the subject area (public transport) is growing significantly out of its deep and protracted covid and post-covid slump.

4 April at 12:49 | Open on mastodon.online

Dennis 🆙

@railmaps that’s a wild drop.

4 April at 13:18 | Open on ruhr.social

🌈 DᐰNA

@ichderfisch Yeah, I see it everywhere. My two blogs basically got decimated in the last update too.

4 April at 13:22 | Open on mastodon.art

CheapPontoon

@ichderfisch
"How can you help?"

I use DDG as much as possible.

4 April at 13:36 | Open on beige.party

BinaryDigit :prami:

@ichderfisch This is what we're dealing with at work as well. We're a small publisher and traffic has tanked, and everyday is a struggle to keep afloat. I can't deal with it anymore 😭

4 April at 13:50 | Open on social.lol

Dennis 🆙

@binarydigit That's horrible to hear. As my post got a little more attraction than I initially expected I would suggest, you should tell your story too, same as Retro Dodo is doing it. People care and those of us who don't own websites might not be aware of what's happening in the background.

4 April at 13:57 | Open on ruhr.social

meadowhawk

@ichderfisch Ive see a lot of bloggers posting about this lately. It sucks being locked into Google's business model.

I believe RSS feeds might be the web's only way around all of this, also for those getting blacklisted by google, they should promote their feeds. Retro Dodo has one as well but unless I missed it they didn't promote their feed. https://retrododo.com/feed/

Not using google search wouldn't hurt but that seems unlikely to become a wide spread trend sadly.

4 April at 14:10 | Open on indieweb.social

Dennis 🆙

@meadowhawk I already texted them about their RSS Feed. That's my way of reading everything they publish. Maybe they'll change it.

But RSS feeds alone won't help, as these only reach the regular visiting audience. You don't get visible for the unknown on RSS Feeds.

As you see on their page, they promote their content on every other channel possible, still Google Search used to be the main entry point. If I'd have to guess, probably YouTube might be second or third. Welcome to hell.

4 April at 14:30 | Open on ruhr.social

meadowhawk

@ichderfisch that's awesome! I was trying to figure out how to reach out and remind them they have RSS as well.

I agree discovery via Google is the hell we live with. I guess all we can do is keep screaming into the void about why everyone should quit relying solely on Google...we might make headway In a few years... I'm a nihilistic optimistic :⁠-⁠D

4 April at 14:35 | Open on indieweb.social

Dennis 🆙

@meadowhawk Maybe you want to add something. That's their contact form: https://retrododo.com/contact/

4 April at 14:38 | Open on ruhr.social

meadowhawk

@ichderfisch ah thanks, I'll encourage them as well, thanks! I noticed that a couple years ago they were getting awards from Google for traffic... Interesting how google changes plans and hurts people.