By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 29/06/2026To top it all off, this decade has seen Google make a series of changes to its search prioritization that favored low-value shovelware sites over carefully researched, reliable alternatives. 31/ 1724
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 29/06/2026Search for product reviews and you're apt to get a "site reputation abuse" result from a once-reliable outlet like *Forbes* filled with useless and even dangerous reviews, which are ranked far above independently maintained, rigorous competitors: pluralistic.net/2024/05/03/k... 32/pluralistic.netPluralistic: Google is (still) losing the spam wars to zombie news-brands (03 May 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow 1643
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 29/06/2026This has only gotten worse with AI search, which preferentially draws from spam sites to produce decontextualized, highly confident recommendations for substandard, overpriced junk, at the expense of recommendations for *good* products: pluralistic.net/2025/07/15/i... 33/pluralistic.netPluralistic: When Google’s slop meets webslop, search stops (15 Jul 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow 1693
