The Lemon Fool

Do I detect a better Lemonfool search facility, courtesy of a well known search engine?

It seems to actually work!

Thanks Stooz, or whoever

staffordian wrote:
Do I detect a better Lemonfool search facility, courtesy of a well known search engine?

It seems to actually work!

Given the long-running issues with the vanilla site-search facility, the recent addition of the 'Enhanced by Google' search box is of course welcome, but I do wonder whether there's any need for it to appear on every single Lemon Fool page...

For something that's used relatively rarely in day-to-day interactions with the site, and because it clearly takes up valuable screen-estate and also (irritatingly...) delays the normal page-loading times for every single page, I wonder if it would be possible to just locate the new Google-search-banner on the 'Advanced Search' page only, so that it's then part of that 'search' process alone, when people want to use it, and it doesn't appear so 'in your face' at the top of every single Lemon Fool page on the site?

Link here to the 'Advanced Search' page - https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/search.php

If it has to stay on every single Lemon Fool page, is there any chance it could be placed at the bottom of the pages, above the lower 'Home' banner, rather than the top, as I think that would deliver a much less intrusive improvement than the current configuration...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

In the last day or two I have had a rather annoying banner across the top of every page which reads 'Enhanced by Google' in an otherwise empty box.

It enhances nothing. What is its purpose I wonder? I pay to have ads removed and yet that is in fact an ad.

Dod

Dod101 wrote:In the last day or two I have had a rather annoying banner across the top of every page which reads 'Enhanced by Google' in an otherwise empty box.

It enhances nothing. What is its purpose I wonder? I pay to have ads removed and yet that is in fact an ad.

Dod

It's the new and improved search facility. See the preceding topic. C.

Dod101 wrote:In the last day or two I have had a rather annoying banner across the top of every page which reads 'Enhanced by Google' in an otherwise empty box.

It enhances nothing. What is its purpose I wonder? I pay to have ads removed and yet that is in fact an ad.

Dod

I assume it's a search box but it takes an enormous block of screen real estate in an otherwise neatly laid out web page...

GS

Mind you when, in "Home" I searched for a particular word using both this new Google facility (3 posts found) and with the native search facility (4 posts found) I discovered that it wasn't the search facility to end all search facilities. C.

csearle wrote:

Dod101 wrote:In the last day or two I have had a rather annoying banner across the top of every page which reads 'Enhanced by Google' in an otherwise empty box.

It enhances nothing. What is its purpose I wonder? I pay to have ads removed and yet that is in fact an ad.

Dod

It's the new and improved search facility. See the preceding topic. C.

It is horrible. I wonder how many a) complained about the previous search facility and b) like this new one? Furthermore, to a simple soul like me it was certainly not obvious what it was except another ad for the ever more ubiquitous Google. I hope the owners are being paid by Google and that may be nearer the reason for it. Good luck to them if that is so but it would have been helpful to have told us the reason this is being imposed on us.


Dod

I try and avoid Google and use non tracking engines. Sad to see it here!
Mike

GoSeigen wrote:

Dod101 wrote:
In the last day or two I have had a rather annoying banner across the top of every page which reads 'Enhanced by Google' in an otherwise empty box.

It enhances nothing. What is its purpose I wonder? I pay to have ads removed and yet that is in fact an ad.

I assume it's a search box but it takes an enormous block of screen real estate in an otherwise neatly laid out web page...

I agree, and I've said as much already on the other 'Improve the Recipe' thread discussing this new feature here -

https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=29376

I've said on that thread that whilst it's a welcome improvement, given the poor in-built search facility, it's very annoying in it's current location on *every* Lemon Fool page, and I've suggested that, given the relatively infrequent use of the function, it might either be made available only on the 'Advanced Search' page (https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/search.php), or if it is to be kept on every single Lemon Fool page, can it be moved much lower down where it's not as bothersome, perhaps above the bottom 'Home' banner that's also visible on every page...

Either of those two options would be a huge improvement on it's current location....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

Dod101 wrote:Furthermore, to a simple soul like me it was certainly not obvious what it was except another ad for the ever more ubiquitous Google.

Yes I was the same. I too thought it was an ad* until I read Itsallaguess's post.

Chris
*Even though I don't normally see ads here!

Thanks IAAG. I seldom come to this Board as by and large I am perfectly happy with the 'Recipe' It did not occur to me that this banner was a search facility' especially as the original Search box still exists. As IAAG says, how often do we need this? I almost never use it and find the banner simply annoying and frankly a switch off. i do not want to the name of Google on every page. I have noting much against Google but this could easily do so.

The banner's message is not even true. It is not 'Enhanced' by Google. Just the opposite.

Dod

The site's search facility has come under some criticism because it doesn't work well. The Google search is much more effective and has been introduced for the benefit of users.

I have raised the issues, with Stooz, about the amount of space it takes up to see if it can be made more unobtrusive.

Clariman

I concur with the prevailing zeitgeist. I don’t like it. Put out of the way somewhere, e.g. to be accessed only in case of need from the “quick links” drop-down, where “search” is an option even now. And maybe not use google, if possible.

csearle wrote:

Dod101 wrote:Furthermore, to a simple soul like me it was certainly not obvious what it was except another ad for the ever more ubiquitous Google.

Yes I was the same. I too thought it was an ad* until I read Itsallaguess's post.

Chris
*Even though I don't normally see ads here!

It's a cunning fund-raising plan by our illustrious duo. I thought it was an Ad, and that my last donation had perhaps expired, so I donated again to top-up the Lemon Fool coffers. Then found the "Ad" was still there!

I agree it does use too much real-estate, especially on a mobile. Even if it can't be shrunk or relocated, it would be better if the text was changed from "Enhanced by Google" to "Google site-search".

--kiloran (now poorer and disliking the "enhancement", but still grateful to Stooz and Clariman for this wonderful community site)

Have to say, I'm very impressed with the new Google search facility.

When I've added the same facility to my own sites in the past, the search results have been littered with so many Google ads as to make it virtually unusable. Here, Stooz has managed to get it to display search results with NO GOOGLE ADVERTS polluting the results returned. Very good!

Now as others have said, can we have it moved to inside the (already large wasted space) in the blue banner at the top please?

Many thanks....

Itsallaguess wrote:https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=29376

I've said on that thread that whilst it's a welcome improvement, given the poor in-built search facility, it's very annoying in it's current location on *every* Lemon Fool page, and I've suggested that, given the relatively infrequent use of the function, it might either be made available only on the 'Advanced Search' page (https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/search.php), or if it is to be kept on every single Lemon Fool page, can it be moved much lower down where it's not as bothersome, perhaps above the bottom 'Home' banner that's also visible on every page...

Either of those two options would be a huge improvement on it's current location....

Just to say that I totally agree with Itsallaguess's suggestions - and of the two of them, I'd prefer it to be on the 'Advanced Search' page: that way, it will be prominent when I'm likely to be interested (i.e. when searching for something and the normal site search hasn't found it) and totally unobtrusive when I'm not (which is most of the time).

As a general principle, by the way, I find website features obtrusive when they slow me down on finding and reading what I want to, and/or try to distract me from doing so. So I donate to the site to remove ads - not because I don't want to see ads at all, but because I don't want to have ads pushed on me at a time when I'm trying to do something else. The point of which is that if the site had a page which only displayed ads, doing so even for those who had donated, and which I only saw when I chose to click an unobtrusive link (e.g. in "Quick links", or possibly as an extra item in the "Quick links" / "Donations" / "FAQ" / "Topics list" / "Rules" row), I would have no objection - and indeed would occasionally click on it to take a look at what was being offered. It's almost certainly 99%+ likely that I won't be interested in any particular ad, of course, but that must be completely standard in the advertising world! And having chosen myself to take a look at the adverts, they won't strike me as anything like as obtrusive. (By the way, I am aware that I can take a look at them by logging out of the site, browsing it until I've seen a good sample of the ads, and then logging in again - but that's way too cumbersome a procedure for dealing with an idle bit of wondering about what financial products are on the market, on the off chance that I might be interested in one of them.)

Gengulphus

If I may suggest, a move to the page that is accessed via the magnifying glass icon would be a natural home for it.

Stick it down at the bottom rather than at the top.
That way it's still there but not as in your face.
(No. I don't like it either.)

absolutezero wrote:Stick it down at the bottom rather than at the top.
That way it's still there but not as in your face.
(No. I don't like it either.)

And how do I do that?

Dod

Oh dear!

Google is spyware and in including 'google analytics' within the web page that means google gets to see your IP at each visit. With other tricks they can more often associate devices/actions to individuals to build up a tracking system that can profile individuals and track their movements/activities. They've even resorted to playing inaudible tones on one device to have other devices listen and report back what devices they hear i.e. for close proximity tracking. When a 'company' goes to such lengths they are clearly spying and as such should be banned/blocked IMO but so far most states have failed to do so.

If I wanted to search the site using google its easy enough to go to google.com and enter the search term followed by site:lemonfool.co.uk Personally I prefer to minimise the amount of my movements/activities that others can track and as such prefer DuckDuckGo as my primary search engine, who take my search request and pass it on to google before returning the results - so that google doesn't directly see that it was me performing that search request.

Some, or even apparently most don't seem to mind having others know all of their personal details, preferences and movements, collected and recorded over years. Others, including me, would prefer privacy - the option to only share such details with whomever I considered it appropriate to do so. IMO including direct google tracking is a push toward individuals instating block controls and in so doing that also blocks ads and makes donations to have ads removed that much less likely. I use Dissenter browser, so for me a right click and block element removes the visibility, however additional code still sustains direct links to Google analytics ... not good (assuming you don't subscribe to the support/expansion of spyware).