Journal sean23007's Journal: Google News cites Slashdot 1
This is the first time I've noticed this, and it may indeed be the first time it has happened, but Google News has cited a Slashdot article as the primary source for one of its stories. You may all remember the story about Motorola using Linux and Java in its next generation of phones. Well, Google's webcrawler apparently decided that Slashdot is a reliable primary source for that story, even though the article itself is just a few lines long and contains a link to the real article which contains original information. Not only that, but they link to an article which duped this earlier article on the same subject.
Beyond the fact that Slashdot articles should never be considered primary sources, this link may give the wrong idea of Slashdot to people clicking around Google News. Even if you're logged in to Slashdot, this link does not respect your user preferences. It defaults to +1/Threaded. I have found that this isn't usually the best way to browse Slashdot. Additionally, by linking to a duplicate article, the discussion is mainly about dupes, and not the actual issue at hand.
I propose that the solution for this is that Google News should update their webcrawler in such a way that it never lists Slashdot as the primary source for anything, but rather may provide another link to it, perhaps labelled "Slashdot Discussion" so that people may know what they are getting into when they click it. Also, no dupe should ever get posted. They are an embarrasment for the community and a blight on the ass of Slashdot. We don't particularly want one to be the possible first experience of Slashdot for any potential future readers, do we?
Ultimately, this is more of a recommendation for Google than for Slashdot, as there really isn't anything Slashdot can do about it.
Beyond the fact that Slashdot articles should never be considered primary sources, this link may give the wrong idea of Slashdot to people clicking around Google News. Even if you're logged in to Slashdot, this link does not respect your user preferences. It defaults to +1/Threaded. I have found that this isn't usually the best way to browse Slashdot. Additionally, by linking to a duplicate article, the discussion is mainly about dupes, and not the actual issue at hand.
I propose that the solution for this is that Google News should update their webcrawler in such a way that it never lists Slashdot as the primary source for anything, but rather may provide another link to it, perhaps labelled "Slashdot Discussion" so that people may know what they are getting into when they click it. Also, no dupe should ever get posted. They are an embarrasment for the community and a blight on the ass of Slashdot. We don't particularly want one to be the possible first experience of Slashdot for any potential future readers, do we?
Ultimately, this is more of a recommendation for Google than for Slashdot, as there really isn't anything Slashdot can do about it.
It's not the first time, (Score:2)