"I get a lot of value from HN: it's fast, doesn't require an app, curating is done by real people and the comments add a lot. I'd be curious to learn what types of content your product surfaces that's different from HN?"
It's hard to keep track of the convo on Twitter so I'll comment here.
I think there's something wrong with the data.
The full chart shows a sudden drop of about 9% market share for Google from March going into April 2024. Meanwhile there are significant gains for Bing and Yahoo.
statcounter says they track referrals from search engines (vs. queries directly on the search engine). This suggests to me that there was some change that stopped tracking a significant number of Google referrals, though I don't know enough to know why.
On AI: they do not count moments when a chatbot response references a page, only if you click into the page itself. I think the reactions about ChatGPT/Perplexity eating Google are not entirely correct, considering this + the magnitude of the drop.
I am on the commission overseeing a major public library system. I strongly disagree with your interpretation of what libraries do.
First, the real estate presence of the library is extremely important. Children's storytime is one of the strongest drivers of foot traffic. Some of the buildings act as designated cooling centers during heat waves. They are community centers and gathering spaces for local organizations.
Also, just because you can spend $10 on an ebook does not mean others would choose to do the same! That's important money to many people.
Otherwise, here are some other things I've seen libraries do that I think your comment underestimates:
- supplies reading materials to jailed inmates
- helps new residents navigate city services
- manages the city archives
- provides wifi access for the 10%+ of a big city that does not have wifi at home
- gives free books to build book collections at home
- loans tools and other "maker" equipment
Not all libraries are funded well enough to do the above, and the specific definition of a library in 2024 is very hard to nail down - basically converges on a community center.
All I'm saying is that libraries are making concerted efforts to break out of the traditional definition ("gatekeeper of information") - you should check out your local library to see all that they do!
"I get a lot of value from HN: it's fast, doesn't require an app, curating is done by real people and the comments add a lot. I'd be curious to learn what types of content your product surfaces that's different from HN?"