Questions: Why are all links to FR posts deleted at Google?

June 23, 2017 | me

[TigerLikesRooster]

I dropped in Google today. In the past, I could find articles posted at Freerepublic using a keyword search. Now all I can see is a link to Freerepublic and a small text window for a keyword search inside Freerepublic. All links to Freerepublic articles were deleted, except a few which mention Freerepublic and Google together.

Is it due to Freerepublic's request or Google's unilateral attempt to erase Freerepublic's footprint on Internet?

[lewislynn]

Questions: Why are all links to FR posts deleted at Google?

Bigger question: Why do you think?

Even bigger question: Why would anyone even use GOOGLE?

[TigerLikesRooster]

I was talking about generic search on Freerepublic by typing in just one keyword "Freerepublic." That used to bring many links to FR posts but now you may need to scroll many pages to see one if ever.

Then there is a new feature on the top of first search result page with link to Freerepublic and its subsections along with an extra text search window for Freerepublic content only.

I raised this issue because I saw this happening to another site I know of. It is also one of sites the left really hate. The site has been bombarded with the threat of lawsuits, media attacks, and frequent DDos attacks. The site owner had enough and asked Google to delete all external links to posts at its site. Then set up the special link with its own text search window. You can also search an individual post if you pair up a keyword and the site name, but not the site name alone. So when I saw the same thing happening to FR, it piqued my curiosity.

[JohnyBoy]

I’ve stopped using google for poltical related searches. They shape the results or outright censor them. Bing actually works better when it comes to poltics, lol.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Me, either. I only use them for non-political topics. Their Google News is laughable. It always feature multiple WaPo articles on the top page. Frequently, WaPo article is the first article listed. Biased new aggregation site, while pretending to be fair and balanced, is as bad as biased media. So one can conclude that it is as bad as WaPo.

[Seeing More Clearly Now]

I have a question, also asked by someone else recently: “What happened to Nachum and Nachumlist”? Every trace of those systematic compilations of events seems scrubbed from the web.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Nachum apparently has twitter account which was active until Dec. 23 last year.

https://twitter.com/nachumlist?lang=en

Search seems to be still working on NamchumList.

A discussion thread on Nachum’s whereabout has a comment which says he told a freeper that he had pancreatic cancer.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3553490/posts?page=20#20

[Seeing More Clearly Now]

“Nachum apparently has twitter account which was active until Dec. 23 last year.
https://twitter.com/nachumlist?lang=en

Search seems to be still working on NamchumList.

A discussion thread on Nachum’s whereabout has a comment which says he told a freeper that he had pancreatic cancer.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3553490/posts?page=20#20";

Thanks for the link to a twitter account. Why can no web search get through to the data that was there for two presidents? It shouldn’t have disappeared without a trace. I have lost dear friends to pancreatic cancer and know that it can take its toll quickly. Still, does anyone else have lingering doubts about this?

[TigerLikesRooster]

Correction: NamchumList -> NachumList

[Seeing More Clearly Now]

An going back a few years in time, that list was more than once the target of mischief.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2949544/posts

[Fresh Wind]

If you google “links to fr posts”, the first thing that Google returns is a link to this thread.

[wita]

“As an IT professional, I simply don’t give out authorization to run programs on my computer except on a need-to-have basis. Decades later it’s still stunning to me that people allow unknown sources to run arbitrary code on their computers.”

As an IT unprofessional, I probably unknowingly give all kinds of authorization for others with more knowledge than I to access my computer with their arbitrary code. It is still stunning to me that IT professionals for decades find this situation so stunning.

[FreedomPoster]

Use the Wayback Machine to get to old Nachum List material. Here’s the home page captured March 24, 2016:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160324025420/http://www.nachumlist.com/

[TigerLikesRooster]

Try typing in “Freerepublic” alone. That alone led to many FR posts in the past. Not anymore.

[I want the USA back]

I hereby accuse Google of deliberately not indexing posts at FR.

[a fool in paradise]

Google cache? It’s still active in the “other nations’” google searches.

example, type google.fr

[ConservativeMind]

Excellent link! Thanks!

I fear Nachum left this world for a better one.

[a fool in paradise]

if you include text like “view replies” in your FR google search, you are more likely to hit the threads (not always the first page) on FR.

[FreedomPoster]

Archive.org is a really useful site.

[Fresh Wind]

Try typing in “democratic underground”. How many individual threads show up?

[TigerLikesRooster]

I see that FR and DU now have a same setup. Since I didn't frequent DU, I can only notice change to FR posts. So maybe this is not confined to FR. However, it must be pretty recent, because I check Google to find out their search results out of curiosity from time to time.

As I mentioned in previous reply in this thread, I know a site which move to eliminate all external links and adopted the same format due to political harassment and DDos attacks. So if you see the same pattern, you have to wonder if it is due to the same problem. Having external link available made it easier for outsiders to grab the site's content and spread it around, drawing angry crowds with threats of lawsuit and DDos attacks.