This has been going on for at least three years, although perhaps they left more popular sites like The Verge alone. My wife's business rebranded three years ago and they kept the old brand as part of the title, presumably because there were lots of links pointing to it with the old title.
p5v 6 hours ago [-]
“I figured that I could always fall back to those blue links to get a relatively unadulterated experience. Now, I have to wonder.”
When the last neutral layer goes, what's left is the people you chose to follow.
I can see this being a net benefit if it's limited to re-writing clickbait headlines.
afavour 5 hours ago [-]
I hate clickbait headlines but I disagree. Let a site succeed or fail based on their choices. If they want to use clickbait headlines they won’t get my clicks.
Rewriting headlines feels like a fundamental break in the contract of a search engine.
billyp-rva 3 hours ago [-]
I mean HN modifies headlines all the time. Sometimes hours after the fact. News sites themselves A/B test headlines constantly. I don't really think there is any "contract" to speak of.
lazide 3 hours ago [-]
There is a massive difference between a specific website changing things (even an aggregator), and a search engine.
lapcat 5 hours ago [-]
> if it's limited to re-writing clickbait headlines
It's already not so limited:
"sometimes changing their meaning in the process."
"It almost sounds like we’re endorsing a product we do not recommend at all."
blitzar 6 hours ago [-]
Its A1 all the way down.
arunakt 7 hours ago [-]
Hmm, needed with fancy AI ready information
Rendered at 21:57:56 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Vercel.
When the last neutral layer goes, what's left is the people you chose to follow.
I've been sitting with that thought while building https://murmel.social
Rewriting headlines feels like a fundamental break in the contract of a search engine.
It's already not so limited:
"sometimes changing their meaning in the process."
"It almost sounds like we’re endorsing a product we do not recommend at all."