If you frequent Reddit, then you’re probably aware that subreddits can live or die by the quality of their moderators. When mods are too heavy-handed, users may go elsewhere seeking less censorship, and if there is a lack of moderation, well, things can devolve fast into endless complaints and help threads, which is precisely what we’re currently seeing in the Google subreddit, otherwise known as r/google. It would appear a recent lack of moderation has opened the doors to a long list of complaints, from the quality of Google Search to how often Google’s AI makes things up to the company supposedly not following its own ToS for its ad network. The list is long and growing longer each day, perhaps shedding some light on what Google’s many users think of the company when their thoughts are unfiltered.
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Reddit’s r/google is filled with complaints
Bad Search results aren’t thrilling users
Simply dig through the subreddit, and you will find some gems. There’s a post that goes into detail about how Google Search is displaying information for a movie that actually does not exist. Even though the lead actor only said days ago he’s not even sure he’ll take up the mantle again, Google is currently listing information created to discuss the possibility of the movie as fact, neatly detailed in a JPG with red text and arrows, as the internet loves to do. It’s an amusing post that points to Google Search’s sometimes iffy results and its reliance on iffier websites, which write about endless rumors for easy clicks, rumors Google clearly can’t judge if they are true or not, hence the current result mentioned in the post.
Sexualized ads aren’t winning anyone over
And if you think calling out Google’s poor search results that can display rumor as fact is funny, wait until you see the post claiming that Google isn’t following its own ToS with its ad network, showing ads with sexualized poses on YouTube — you know, the platform that contains all those fake ads for mobile games that don’t actually exist. It’s a wonder why Google’s war on ad blockers hasn’t gained more traction.
Play Store design deservedly dragged
Here at AP, it’s very clear that we are not fans of whatever Google is doing to the Play Store’s design, from the ridiculous search button that requires two taps and still serves up ads in the results first to personalized results that are nothing more than ads by another name. There is a clear theme here, and helping users find what they are looking for does not appear to be it, something users have indeed picked up on in a recent post on r/google, calling out the Play Store’s cluttered and unhelpful design.
More issues with AI than you can shake a stick at
At this point, many of you may be aware of how much AI can hallucinate, likely thanks to Google telling users to eat rocks and glue last year. Seemingly, things still aren’t that much better. Only recently did a post go up on r/google that called out Gemini getting facts about how much of the earth is viewable from the ISS space station, and boy, did that post blow up with 1500 upvotes, which is likely why Google has already fixed the result. There are still plenty of other posts calling out similar inaccuracies.
Seemingly absent mods resulted in a Google-bashing free-for-all
It would appear that the lack of moderation on Reddit’s r/google has created a situation where everyone can now air their grievances with Google to the public, and with over three million readers in that sub, you’re likely to get a few views, which seems to be what’s encouraging everyone to post their negative experiences. While it’s unknown what will come of the sub if mods continue to be so hands-off, perhaps everyone airing their grievances will help to heal the divide between users and Google’s seemingly endless push to make more and more money at the expense of its quality. Suffice it to say there appear to be a lot of people who are displeased with Google, and the end result speaks for itself.
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