MSFN and its lack of search results in Google, Bing, and all search engines depending on them

[AstroSkipper]

14 minutes ago, Ben Markson said:

If I just do "MSFN Windows XP" then there are no results from msfn.org

If I do site:msfn.org "MSFN Windows XP" then there are lots of msfn.org results. Again, a mixture of correct and hacked results.

A 'site' search seems to reveal the results that are otherwise hidden.

Ben.

The problem is that this is not the usual way users are searching for contents. They put their search string into the form, mostly unrelated to our forum, and perform a search. Since 21 May 2026, they won't land here on MSFN anymore if using Google, Bing or their slave engines. 

[EliraFriesnan]

3 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

Bing

1 Siamese result and zero real MSFN results.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

8 minutes ago, AstroSkipper said:

The problem is that this is not the usual way users are searching for contents.

Bingo!

I did *NOT* become a member here at MSFN because I *searched* for "site:msfn.org whatever".

I *searched* for "whatever" and it contained links for topics/threads on a website *I NEVER HEARD OF* prior to it being listed in a search engine's "list of results".

Nobody searches for a webiste THEY NEVER HEARD OF by starting off their search query *WITH* the URL of that NEVER-HEARD-OF web site.

Yeah, we've all heard of it "now", but it's safe to say that NONE OF US "stumbled onto MSFN" by performing a search for "site:msfn.org whatever".

Edited Saturday at 10:20 AM by NotHereToPlayGames

[NotHereToPlayGames]

And it really comes down to how do NEW MEMBERS find MSFN.

Because let's face facts, all MSFN has been for the past SIX MONTHS is all of us that are already members "talking to ourselves".

Some odd digital circle jerk, pardon the phrase.

And let's face facts, we've *LOST* a lot of GOOD MEMBERS because they already saw that writing on the wall, that all we do is "talk to ourselves".

And let's face facts, many of us, whether we admit it or not, are just kind of downright "rude" to anybody not in 100% agreement with our own "paradigm".

MSFN is *dead*.  It really is.  "Management" has left the building.  Not even "reverse psychology" can get them to voice a view.

Nobody really cares anymore.  Just riding out the storm.

All we can do, I guess, is keep hoping that the Definition of Insanity doesn't apply here.

[AstroSkipper]

7 minutes ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

Bingo!

I did *NOT* become a member here at MSFN because I *searched* for "site:msfn.org whatever".

I *searched* for "whatever" and it contained links for topics/threads on a website *I NEVER HEARD OF* prior to it being listed in a search engine's "list of results".

Nobody searches for a webiste THEY NEVER HEARD OF by starting off their search query *WITH* the URL of that NEVER-HEARD-OF web site.

Yeah, we've all heard of it "now", but it's safe to say that NONE OF US "stumbled onto MSFN" by performing a search for "site:msfn.org whatever".

Dito! 

[AstroSkipper]

18 minutes ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

And it really comes down to how do NEW MEMBERS find MSFN.

Because let's face facts, all MSFN has been for the past SIX MONTHS is all of us that are already members "talking to ourselves".

Some odd digital circle jerk, pardon the phrase.

And let's face facts, we've *LOST* a lot of GOOD MEMBERS because they already saw that writing on the wall, that all we do is "talk to ourselves".

And let's face facts, many of us, whether we admit it or not, are just kind of downright "rude" to anybody not in 100% agreement with our own "paradigm".

MSFN is *dead*.  It really is.  "Management" has left the building.  Not even "reverse psychology" can get them to voice a view.

Nobody really cares anymore.  Just riding out the storm.

All we can do, I guess, is keep hoping that the Definition of Insanity doesn't apply here.

I see the whole thing in a much more differenced way. As long as the forum presents technical solutions – and ours is full of them, with new ones still being produced – it isn’t dead. But I do agree with you in that the vast majority of the supposedly over 60,000   members are no longer active here. And most of them are passive, simply benefiting from those who still contribute genuine content. 

Edited Saturday at 10:45 AM by AstroSkipper

[NotHereToPlayGames]

5 minutes ago, AstroSkipper said:

of the supposedly over 60,000

I would kind of guess that only 15,000 of those were ever "real people".  And that would be my *HIGH* estimate.

It's not a violation of forum rules, people have lives, they join, forget that they joined, no longer have first email, join again years later with a different email, et cetera.

We have tons of "spammer" accounts that join and are counted as a member, but their spam doesn't land for several weeks later (if it lands at all).

 

MSFN has done a *GREAT* job at preventing SPAM (we used to have days where OVER A HUNDRED spams [Intuit QuickBooks or TurboTax!] would all land in a FIVE MINUTE SPAN).

We no longer have that spam.  But, we no longer have NEW members.  OF ANY KIND!  Real or Fake, we don't have either!

[AstroSkipper]

@NotHereToPlayGames I am aware of that but this topic is about MSFN and its lack of results in search engines. As usual, you are going totally off-topic. Try to focus on this topic here! I’m a mathematician and I’m all about facts, analysis and solutions.  The idea of this thread is to collect data about this devastating issue, identify the causes and ask the owner/administrator @xper and the supervisor @Tripredacus to look into the matter and then act.  

Edited Saturday at 11:35 AM by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[NotHereToPlayGames]

34 minutes ago, AstroSkipper said:

The idea of this thread is to collect data about this devastating issue, identify the causes and ask the owner/administrator @xper and the supervisor @Tripredacus to look into the matter and then act.

Good luck with that!

I really think that IF THEY CARED, we wouldn't have needed this thread, or the other two, or the dozens of references.

Call it "reverse psycholology", HOPEFULLY the more I say that they don't care, they will chime in to PROVE ME WRONG.

But I for one ain't holdin' my breath on that LOST CAUSE.

 

Carry on...  GOOD LUCK !!!

[AstroSkipper]

17 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

MSFN and its lack of search results in Google, Bing, and all search engines depending on them

As I had already reported in two other threads, starting from here:
https://msfn.org/board/topic/185966-my-browser-builds-part-5/page/192/#findComment-1287545
and from here:
https://msfn.org/board/topic/187750-sometimes-redirecting-to-spamgamble-site-when-accessing-msfnorgboard/page/8/#findComment-1287566
MSFN has been de-indexed and its search results removed from Google, Bing, and all other search engines which depend on them, as, for example, DuckDuckGo, Startpage, Ecosia, Qwant, eTools.ch, yahoo!, and so on. I call them Google's and Bing's slave machines. I am @AstroSkipper and located in Germany, and here are some screenshots to show you what I mean:



No relevant search results regarding MSFN. All that means MSFN is now stuck in the digital gulag starting with Google's Core Updates on 21 May 2026. And here a screenshot from Google Search with the search term "msfn.org":



Here you can clearly see that Google considers MSFN a spammer as sites with domain msfn.org are shown in Thai or Siamese language. Now, my question to all members of MSFN:

Are you also affected?

Please post screenshots of search results with the search term "MSFN Windows XP" for exact comparison! Or alternatively, state in a clear sentence which country you are from and whether you are affected or not!  

And here are screenshots of the last two major search engines, Brave and Mojeek, which show correct results without the foreign Thai language to indicate spammer sites:






We need information from all countries to see if there is a real problem and to report it then to the site owner/administrator @xper and supervisor @Tripredacus. And one thing is crystal clear: Nihil semper ad nihilum!

Cheers, AstroSkipper 

@VistaLover, what about Greece?
@roytam1, what about Hong Kong?
@nicolaasjan, what about Netherlands?
@modnar, what about Slovenia?
@raddy, what about Ukraine?
@reboot12, what about Poland?
@RamonUn, what about Italy?
@dmiranda, what about Argentina?
@billmcct, what about your location in the United States?
@LordGarfio, what about Spain?
and so on ... 

Edited Saturday at 12:16 PM by AstroSkipper

[roytam1]

18 minutes ago, AstroSkipper said:

@VistaLover, what about Greece?
@roytam1, what about Hong Kong?
@nicolaasjan, what about Netherlands?
@modnar, what about Slovenia?
@raddy, what about Ukraine?
@reboot12, what about Poland?
@RamonUn, what about Italy?
@dmiranda, what about Argentina?
@LordGarfio, what about Spain?
and so on ... 

actually how can google index msfn now.

DDG is also affected:

Edited Saturday at 12:23 PM by roytam1

[AstroSkipper]

27 minutes ago, roytam1 said:

actually how can google index msfn now.

Thank you very much for your confirmation!  Even in Hong Kong, there are only Thai/Siamese search results, indicating that MSFN is considered a spammer site when using Google Search! This is definitely a worldwide disaster.  MSFN is currently completely stuck in the digital gulag all over the world, when it comes to search results for it on Google, Bing and their d*a*m*n slave search engines.  

Edited Saturday at 12:49 PM by AstroSkipper

[AstroSkipper]

54 minutes ago, roytam1 said:

DDG is also affected:

Yep, all search engines depending on Google or Bing are affected:

[modnar]

I hope you don't mind, but I don't do google.

Quite outrageous: startpage.com in latest Serpent 52.9 lists msfn.org as 14th find (on first page) but with unreadable characters, but I remember seeing similar some time ago and the duck lists it on the second page 1st place but with crap characters.

[AstroSkipper]

@modnar Thanks for your confirmation! It doesn't really matter whether you use Startpage or DuckDuckGo instead of Google. They are all slave search engines which get their results from Google or Bing. Google is the actual monopolist, Bing is desperately trying to keep up, whilst the others are taking advantage of both. That is the big problem when there is practically no competition left. Monopolies always spell disaster.  I have to say, I really admire the two larger search engines that are still around and have managed to carve out their own niche: Brave and Mojeek.  At least, for now. 

Edited Saturday at 01:37 PM by AstroSkipper