You know, I’ve not been able to put my finger on it, but you’re right.
YouTube search is terrible.
I’ve just realised how little I use YouTube nowadays. I just cannot seem to find content that I’m interested in.
For example if I want a lecture on topic X – and I know there are full lectures of that sort – all the search returns is shitty introductory clips by people with opinions on topic X or by people who summarise the topic so succinctly they may as well be talking about anything else. The lectures by people who know their stuff are impossible to find without a direct link.
Not just YouTube search. Most Search Engines in general, but especially Google have become absolute dogshit these days. We need a new, decent search engine that actually gets you the thing you want.
In the meantime, how were you able to find your lecture?
I agree. I tend not to use Google search. Except for Google scholar every so often. Although I’m told that most other search engines just put a different face on; underneath, they rely on Google.
I’m not sure how true that is, but either way… the problem with all search engines is their preference for returning sales websites or ‘journalism’ that is written solely to convert views into ad clicks. But the nature of search engines means the results are presented in such a way that hints at their veracity and authority.
For example searching ‘can people with XYZ (e.g. a medical condition) eat ABC?’ And the search will return loads of articles about XYZ and ABC, but it’s clear that the writers are not, usually, experts. Or they’re selling something related to XYZ or ABC.
You only see the problem if you know what you’re looking for. It’s dangerous. (I’m not having a dig at the writers, who are likely just trying to get by; it’s the system that’s flawed.)
Don’t get me started on Google’s decision not to crawl forums. Some forums contain some good stuff, but they rarely show up in Google anymore. Google prefers to pitch us it’s own services and affiliated social media. Same with the other big tech companies.
Searching for ‘forum + topic’ tends to return links to blogs that include lists of ‘top forums’, but the forums themselves don’t show up. And the popular forums on those lists tend not to be very good.
Ah, I didn’t! Well, I’m not talking about a specific lecture, really. I mean, for example, that I know of loads of academics whose talks are recorded and uploaded to YouTube. If you know the academic’s name, you might be able to search for it on a general search engine.
This may take you to e.g. university websites that publicise the original events and link to the recordings on YouTube. Or you might find the academic’s page on their own university’s website, with links to publications and conferences.
But when you search the same academic or topic on YouTube… they’re nowhere to be found.
I’d like to watch lectures in Spanish. If I explore a Spanish university website, I can find some links to public lectures. But when I search for the topic titles in Spanish… Nothing.
It’s frustrating.
Worse, perhaps: IRL the only person I’ve mentioned this to who understood what I was talking about was a professor of information retrieval or some such area. Nobody else seems to notice. Except you, of course, but citizens of the Lemmyverse are going to be more knowledgeable about this kind of thing than the average browser. Almost everyone I speak to just assumes that searche engines are thorough and rigorous and are shocked when I say they’re useless and biased.
Almost everyone I speak to just assumes that searche engines are thorough and rigorous and are shocked when I say they’re useless and biased.
Most people tend to not notice or believe things until it happens to them. That’s why people still support reactionary politics despite continuous articles stating its demerits (that overweigh any “merits” it has). They’ve been lucky enough to be hit with good search results. But don’t worry, their time of realization will come too.
You know, I’ve not been able to put my finger on it, but you’re right.
YouTube search is terrible.
I’ve just realised how little I use YouTube nowadays. I just cannot seem to find content that I’m interested in.
For example if I want a lecture on topic X – and I know there are full lectures of that sort – all the search returns is shitty introductory clips by people with opinions on topic X or by people who summarise the topic so succinctly they may as well be talking about anything else. The lectures by people who know their stuff are impossible to find without a direct link.
Not just YouTube search. Most Search Engines in general, but especially Google have become absolute dogshit these days. We need a new, decent search engine that actually gets you the thing you want.
In the meantime, how were you able to find your lecture?
I agree. I tend not to use Google search. Except for Google scholar every so often. Although I’m told that most other search engines just put a different face on; underneath, they rely on Google.
I’m not sure how true that is, but either way… the problem with all search engines is their preference for returning sales websites or ‘journalism’ that is written solely to convert views into ad clicks. But the nature of search engines means the results are presented in such a way that hints at their veracity and authority.
For example searching ‘can people with XYZ (e.g. a medical condition) eat ABC?’ And the search will return loads of articles about XYZ and ABC, but it’s clear that the writers are not, usually, experts. Or they’re selling something related to XYZ or ABC.
You only see the problem if you know what you’re looking for. It’s dangerous. (I’m not having a dig at the writers, who are likely just trying to get by; it’s the system that’s flawed.)
Don’t get me started on Google’s decision not to crawl forums. Some forums contain some good stuff, but they rarely show up in Google anymore. Google prefers to pitch us it’s own services and affiliated social media. Same with the other big tech companies.
Searching for ‘forum + topic’ tends to return links to blogs that include lists of ‘top forums’, but the forums themselves don’t show up. And the popular forums on those lists tend not to be very good.
Ah, I didn’t! Well, I’m not talking about a specific lecture, really. I mean, for example, that I know of loads of academics whose talks are recorded and uploaded to YouTube. If you know the academic’s name, you might be able to search for it on a general search engine.
This may take you to e.g. university websites that publicise the original events and link to the recordings on YouTube. Or you might find the academic’s page on their own university’s website, with links to publications and conferences.
But when you search the same academic or topic on YouTube… they’re nowhere to be found.
I’d like to watch lectures in Spanish. If I explore a Spanish university website, I can find some links to public lectures. But when I search for the topic titles in Spanish… Nothing.
It’s frustrating.
Worse, perhaps: IRL the only person I’ve mentioned this to who understood what I was talking about was a professor of information retrieval or some such area. Nobody else seems to notice. Except you, of course, but citizens of the Lemmyverse are going to be more knowledgeable about this kind of thing than the average browser. Almost everyone I speak to just assumes that searche engines are thorough and rigorous and are shocked when I say they’re useless and biased.
Well, thanks for coming to my talk.
Most people tend to not notice or believe things until it happens to them.
That’s why people still support reactionary politics despite continuous articles stating its demerits (that overweigh any “merits” it has).They’ve been lucky enough to be hit with good search results. But don’t worry, their time of realization will come too.