A Small Semi-Rant...

[woodchucker]

My new Carrier Unit was installed with an April Aire filter. It's an accordian (literally), it's in a box 4x4 and you pull it to length. Not available anywhere but plumbing supply and Amazon. My HVAC guy sells it for 50, or he wants $163 for a service and it includes it... NOPE.. Not until I need service in a few years, I can't see every six months getting service (life of the filter).. So Amazon it is... Too many of the plumbing supply houses around here are pro only... I have tried buying, but they are not interested in a retail customer. I'll buy a couple at a time.

 

[kvt]

Yea, the search engines and the companies are trying to push their sponsored products even if they do not meet what you are searching for. Then they often just look at one item in the search instead of the whole thing.
And around here most of the HVAC supply places are also doing the same thing, if you are not an business, they do not want to talk to you. Use to be you could go into a repair place and get what you needed to fix your own stuff, Now all they want to do is sell to the business that go out and fix it for you. And then you get the shaft on the price because they jack up the price even more.

 

[rabler]

I was selling a zero-turn mower on facebook's marketplace earlier this summer. They had a very confusing ad scheme that involved a facebook controlled bid for views using your money, and revolving charges to you. It was typical for this scheme to generate 3 or 4 credit card charges of small amounts (around $2) per day. Included with the charge was a statement for some ridiculous number of "views" (3262 views), which I suspect was the number of times their search engine returned the result, not the number of people that actually clicked open the full ad. But the details were very complex and not well presented. Surprise, Surprise. (not). My only and last experience selling on FBM.

I realized this was why facebook marketplace returns such far reaching (mostly useless) random crap on search. They are pushing products that they are getting ad revenue, regardless of whether it matches your search parameters. I have to think that facebook is not the only one, Amazon is essentially another marketplace front for many vendors. They are in it to make a buck, and someone gets promoted for coming about with a newer better revenue stream, until customers take their money elsewhere in frustration.

 

[C-Bag]

I have basically quit google as it’s now useless. I’m so tired of these completely non relevant results. I was listening to a podcast where they were saying this is due to AI ranking through their knowledge of you how to steer you to other products their sponsors are paying them to steer you to. I was also listening to NPR saying they are going to “investigate” surveillance pricing where AI is determining what you will pay and bilk you for it. All this background surveillance that corps have been doing and paying for is going to be used “adjust” the price we pay individually.

 

[RJSakowski]

Along the lines of the specification rant jungle, my biggest peeve is Amazon listing package size dimensions when you're looking for size specs.