Question about how my search results changed after I stopped clicking ads

About 6 months ago I got fed up with Google pushing sponsored links to the top of every query. So I started scrolling past the first 3-4 results and only clicking organic links. Now my recommendations are totally different. I used to get shopping suggestions constantly. Now it's mostly blog posts and forum threads. Is this just a coincidence or did my behavior actually train something?

3 comments

3 Comments

abby_black15d ago

Laughing at how weve all become lab rats for Google without signing up for it. You basically trained their algorithm to stop trying to sell you stuff and start treating you like a human with questions. It makes sense though, they only care about clicks and if you ignore their paid links they learn to show you different stuff. I swear the internet gets more programmed everyday, its creepy but also kinda funny when you game the system.

christopher_sullivan14d ago

You really think its a bad thing that theyre learning to treat us like actual people instead of walking wallets? Look, I get the whole lab rat thing sounds creepy but if the algorithm is giving me better answers because I stopped clicking their dumb ads then thats a win in my book. The whole point of Google is to find information not buy products and if they finally figured out the difference because we trained them then good. Its not like theyre forcing us to click anything we dont want to and honestly Id rather have a system that adapts to what I actually do than one that just guesses wrong all the time. You guys act like this is some dystopian nightmare but its really just a search engine finally learning basic customer service.

clairem4714d ago

Right there with you. Spent a whole month last year just clicking through recipe sites and ignoring every Instacart ad that popped up. By week three Google finally stopped trying to sell me meal kits and started showing me actual cooking techniques. Felt like I was training a stubborn dog that finally figured out what sit means. The whole thing is less lab rat and more like teaching a computer some basic manners. If ignoring their ads gives me better results then I'll keep doing it till they learn to treat every search like a conversation instead of a sales pitch. Not losing any sleep over it.