Looks like Google is removing forum web site pages from their index,
in line with the approach taken by MSN and, to a lesser extent, Yahoo.

One suggestion is this is because forums are open to abuse from
compeitors and advertisers. Another is that forums are a place of
debate (argument?) and search engines are viewed as directories of
information, rather than debates.

Matt

www@probertencyclopaedia.com (Matt Probert) wrote:

Yeah, I think the main reason is that Google is (ab)used to hunt down
forums, and spam them like crazy, like the recent issues (like the same
"member" popping up at 300,000+ forums IIRC).

Isn't a debate information? Moreover, I recently was able to find on
several occasions solutions to small problems exactly in such debates.

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Per Matt Probert:
My kneejerk is that I like it. Too many hits on NG clones as it is now.
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Matt Probert wrote:
If this is true then its time for a new and better search engine to be made.
Why the 3 "big" engines would do this is beyond me. LKots of good stuff is
found on forums.

"Matt Probert" <www@probertencyclopaedia.com> wrote in message
news:4420555b.45699000@news.ntlworld.com...
I had noticed it too. I was wondering if they would remove their own.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=sit...ups.google.com

If Google indexes their own forums on their web search (including usenet),
places adverts on them, and removes their competitors forums, is that
anti-competitive behavior? I don't know if that is what they intend or
whether some filter rule for duplicated content has done it as a side
effect, or maybe it is just a temporary illusion.

John Bokma wrote:

Me too. I very often find that what I am searching for has the exact
answers I want in a discussion area rather than an informational page.

I personally would prefer they kept on indexing these forums.

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On Tue, 21 Mar 2006 20:35:42 -0000, Jim put finger to keyboard and
typed:

I was wondering that, too. I also agree with the point made earlier by
Viper that there is a lot of good content on forums - being able to
Google for a question and find where someone has answered it can be
really helpful at times.

I don't have any real problem with Google filtering out forum
"content" that is just copied from elsewhere, but a forum where real
discussions between real people are taking place should be indexed as
it's primarily original content.

Mark
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On Tue, 21 Mar 2006 19:39:28 GMT
www@probertencyclopaedia.com (Matt Probert) opined:
Do you have a link to any statement from Google in that regard?
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Disco Octopus <discooctopus@yahoo.com> wrote:

Me too. But I wouldn't mind if they weed out the garbage a bit.

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Mark Goodge wrote:

My vote would be for not indexing the sites that do rip-offs-from-Usenet
and for indexing the ones with their OWN forum content. 1. We can already
search Usenet and 2. it wouldn't promote the rip-off forum sites.


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