
Joining Google to better explain search - adamcarson
https://dannysullivan.com/my-new-chapter-joining-google-5740
======
sova
Please be a proponent for veracity metrics on news stories and "viral
articles" ... it's about time we as users get to see the measure of
reliability and trustworthiness of search results. Cheers, may your new role
bring you great happiness, and may the quality of our lives increase
positively as a result.

~~~
dragonwriter
> Please be a proponent for veracity metrics on news stories and "viral
> articles" ... it's about time we as users get to see the measure of
> reliability and trustworthiness of search results.

Google does lots of things I like, but I see close to zero evidence that they
have developed the competency to act as an arbiter on any of veracity,
reliability, or trustworthiness of news articles (or even less-timely
information on the web.)

Relevance and my likelihood to be _interested_ , yes. But those other
things...no.

And that's even aside from the question of whether Google using its dominant
search position to inject editorial commentary on search results is a good
thing or, in the long term, a bigger threat than the one it would be
addressing.

~~~
MBCook
I agree.

But given the position they hold I think they _need_ to develop this skill.

It’s very clear that ‘throw an algorithm up without thinking of abuse/negative
consequences and fix it later’ works terribly.

~~~
dragonwriter
I'd rather Google provide a framework to integrate third-party ratings; we
don't need a monopoly arbiter of online truth that's also a monopoly search
provider.

------
xpose2000
I echo the idea that he will try to fill the Matt Cutts role that mikkelewis
mentioned in the comments. SEOs always knew to turn to Cutts when they had a
question and it hasn't been properly filled since he left. I have a feeling we
will be hearing from Mr. Sullivan quite a bit in the coming months. It has to
be super exciting going from being an outsider (although well known and
connected) to a Google insider. I wonder how others in the SEO community feel
about it?

------
mikkelewis
Fair to say that it'll be similar to what the public was used to with Matt
Cutts? imo his departure left a hole between Google Search <-> public.

~~~
sullivandanny
Yes and no. Matt oversaw search spam efforts and was an engineer. I won't be
doing that. And I'm definitely not an engineer. Matt was also a lead on
webmaster relation issues. That's not going to be my focus. There are good
people who have already been doing that. Matt did often address broader search
issues, and the role will encompass that. It also will be taking in feedback
from the public and sources and seeing what can be done to promote change.
I'll have more to share after I get through a few weeks of settling in.

~~~
WalterGR
_Matt was also a lead on webmaster relation issues. ... There are good people
who have already been doing that._

Can you suggest some?

I'm still trying to resolve a years-old issue that Matt Cutts gave me
incorrect information about. You can read our back-and-forth (before he stops
responding) here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5418864](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5418864)

------
pasbesoin
Ok, then. Here's what I want:

= Give me my + operator back.

= Don't "guess" at additional matches not specified in my search terms (beyond
stemming). Or let me trivial, simply, and immediately specify such handling.

= Tell me the collection / last updated time of results returned, and let me
actually, effectively filter based on these.

These alone should help me start to evade the massive pollution of search
results that have me cringing a bit internally these days, in anticipation,
every time I'm about to search for something that isn't a trivial
response/result.

Thanks

~~~
sullivandanny
I'd love to see + do what + was supposed to do and not do the guessing. Has
been frustrating to me, too -- though I suspect (this is part of what I'll be
learning) that for the vast majority of people, it might help. In the
meantime, when you search, after doing a search, look for Tools under the
search box then select "Verbatim" which is supposed to do exactly what you
ask.

~~~
pasbesoin
Thank you. That has been mentioned, previously, and I believe there is also a
corresponding query string value that can be appended to a search URL to
enable it.

At least that would amend itself to e.g. being incorporated into a bookmarklet
for one-click access.

~~~
pasbesoin

        javascript:void((function(){var%20loc%20=%20location.href;%20loc.indexOf("?")%20==%20-1%20?%20(location.href%20=%20loc+"?li=1")%20:%20(location.href%20=%20loc+"&li=1");})());
    

or, taking a bit more care:

    
    
        javascript:void((function(){var%20loc%20=%20location.href;%20if%20(loc.indexOf('li=1')%20>=%200)%20return;%20loc.indexOf("?")%20<%200%20?%20(location.href%20=%20loc+"?li=1")%20:%20(location.href%20=%20loc+"&li=1");})());
    

or I guess it could be modified further to change the parm if it's already
present with a different value.

Modified from (because I'm lazy):

[https://stackoverflow.com/questions/20677974/bookmarklet-
to-...](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/20677974/bookmarklet-to-add-a-
parameter-at-end-of-each-url#answer-20678352)

------
noncoml
Relevant to
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15301014](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15301014)
, which had its title changed.

I don't think that anybody deciding to work for Google, FB, Amazon from this
point on can use any excuse to disassociate themselves from the actions of
their company.

------
olivermarks
..Wondering about the ethics of Sullivan being at Google while still
associated with SEO best practice entity
searchengineland...[http://searchengineland.com/about](http://searchengineland.com/about)

~~~
sullivandanny
I actually stepped down as being an advisor. They just haven't updated that
part of the page. In my post, I address this. Bottom line: I don't plan to
treat the company any differently.

~~~
olivermarks
Fair enough - thanks for all the hard work on searchengineland, great site!

------
shostack
Enjoyed your previous published columns Danny, congrats!

Any chance you can push back on the recent change to how maximum daily budgets
are handled that Matt Southern wrote about a couple days ago? Kind of
ridiculous and experienced paid search managers are outraged at what appears
to be yet another attempt to snatch control over accounts from managers.

[https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-doubles-
adwords-b...](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-doubles-adwords-
budgets-advertisers-unhappy/217577/)

------
damon_c
I would think that after following Google's search endeavors so closely for so
long, being invited to join Google and see it from the inside must be
incredibly exciting.

If it is, congratulations! Have fun!

------
tryingagainbro
_That something different has arrived: I’m joining Google as of Monday_

You get a paycheck from Google, which is at least honest and upfront.

Danny Sullivan has been shilling for Google for over a decade, always taking
their side.

------
mtgx
> _The goal is to increase the connection between those at Google who work
> hard on search each day and the public that depends on Google for answers.
> I’ll be educating the public about how search works. I’ll be exploring and
> explaining issues that may arise._

So this is a PR position? I don't care much about that part...

> _I’ll be looking at ways to take in feedback and work for solutions to
> improve search going forward._

That would be interesting if anything real comes out of it, but I fear it's
the first thing he'll be spending most of his time on.

~~~
sullivandanny
It's not a PR position. I don't work for corporate communications. I work for
the search team. I'll be sharing more about the role after I have more time at
Google and shape it more. But it's definitely not PR.

~~~
puzzle
It sounds more like Matt Cutt's external role.

If I were still at Google, I'd send you a welcome email and point you to the
few things that I thought you got wrong in the past (mainly due to lacking the
same context as those on the inside... now you can be the one biting your
tongue). Quite a few of us paid attention to your writings. They were always
among the most insightful, comprehensive and accurate, even when negative.

In some way, your hire might be a bit of a net loss, because now that you're
on the inside, you're no longer going to be considered a neutral third party
and I'm not sure that anyone out there writes as well as you did until June.

~~~
sullivandanny
Thank you. On the loss part, I'd left journalism. So Google's not causing it
-- I just really needed a change after 21 years of doing it. I appreciate your
kind words about it. I'm also absolutely fascinated by understanding from the
inside. That was always the hardest part. If you can't see fully, it's hard to
explain things -- things that some times help people know if there's actually
a reasonable or good explanation. I'm hoping that being on the inside, I'm
going to be able to perhaps help Google share more than it has in the past.

