No, I don't think so. There are hundreds if not thousands of unique domains for nearly every single query. Very few of those are providing first-hand, unique information. Take Apple product announcements; there are hundreds of high-traffic blogs basically creating identical content rehashing a press release or writing posts about newly announced products.
There has to be a way of prioritizing some of these sites over others. Same goes for sports, celebrity/gossip, news, etc. That would be most of the open web right there.
Google also moved to mobile-first indexing some years ago. Was that unfair to mom-and-pop shops that didn't have a responsively designed site? Perhaps, but if the website is something that brings you business, it's a tool that should be sharpened when dull, and replaced when its rusty.
You're absolutely right that UX should have precedence for equal info. There's a reason why I like going to the slickly-made Verge instead of every other site for routine news like what was announced at a particular company's event. That, and I like their short summary videos.
I like their summary videos as well. Unfortunately I'm less of a fan of the website. The design is messy; they're trying to do the "website as magazine" style, but they're dependent on Google Ads so the experience feels disjointed.
I can see that. It's still a far cry from a website with interstitials and auto-playing video, but perhaps I'm setting the bar too low by comparing to like CNN.
You will need to use millionshort.com or a similar niche-based search engine for that. Otherwise, it is the equivalent of asking Apple to let you filter out apps that use Facebook SDK; completely futile.
The overwhelming majority of websites being created today include some kind of tracker, even if it's a single analytics script. And knowing the HN audience, that's still one tracker too many.
Yes, it is, especially if a user doesn't want to be tracked. Flag the website as malicious and the problem would go away quickly. It doesn't serve any purpose anyway. Companies as advertising consumers just want to be on equal footing.
There has to be a way of prioritizing some of these sites over others. Same goes for sports, celebrity/gossip, news, etc. That would be most of the open web right there.
Google also moved to mobile-first indexing some years ago. Was that unfair to mom-and-pop shops that didn't have a responsively designed site? Perhaps, but if the website is something that brings you business, it's a tool that should be sharpened when dull, and replaced when its rusty.