Google can't search anymore

https://binarypassion.net/google-can-t-search-anymore-d8588d9c7d87#.k5uxoakub

by datalist • 10 years ago

21 4 10 years ago

I am conflicted about archived Usenet. I agree that there's a lot of "former glory" there. But I'm also glad that my own personal rantings aren't as easily found.

Google search in general, not just the former Deja News, has gotten much worse. And that's the real tragedy. It is now one step away from being fucking useless. They've slowly taken away all the advanced features.

Nowadays, when I search for something like this:

   "search phrase one"  "search phrase two"

I will get a plethora of hits that omit one or the other of those words or phrases, starting with the very first page of results.

It used to be that you could do something like

   +"yes I want to" +really +include +this

to be sure your words all mattered. But they stole the plus for Google Plus, and other advanced search features have also been neutered.

But the good news is that they're developing blimps and thermostats and other crap like that!

avifreedman• 10 years ago

An old button said "Reading Usenet is like drinking from a firehose. Posting to Usenet is like shouting from a mountaintop. Archiving Usenet is like saving used toilet tissue."

While there is truth to each claim, I'd also like to see better historic search-ability... Anyone know if it's possible to get the input set that Google got on the historic text group side?

timgws2• 10 years ago

A quick Google search shows that most commercial usenet providers do not have more then 3000 days worth of text retention. (ie, you can get a little more then 8 years worth of history).

* Altopia has 499 days of text retention (https://www.altopia.com/retention/retention.html)

* NewsDaemon has 720 days of text retention (http://www.newsdemon.com/newsgroup-retention.php)

* Giganews has ~ 960 days of text retention (http://www.giganews.com/news/article/retention_grows.html)

So, unless someone out there has terabytes worth of text storage from way back when (which is one reason why Google bought Deja News in the first place), I don't think it will be possible to get all that history.

timgws2• 10 years ago

Check out http://www.theusenetarchive.com/

Google can't search anymore

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