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

[NotHereToPlayGames]

7 minutes ago, AstroSkipper said:

Nothing has been fixed or properly maintained here for a long time. 

Agreed!

My *PREDICTION* - we will see one of those "donate now or MSFN will have to shut down" threads in the very near future.

We've seen it before, it's just around the corner, we (the members) are going to have to PAY FOR THIS one way or the other.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

Me personally, I'll go down with the ship!

Not because I'm some Pirate Captain making Good Booty and loyal to the ship but because I'm the cheap labor traveling for free because somebody has to "scrub the deck".

I do not "donate" to anything without a public accounting of the "inlays and outlays".

[AstroSkipper]

1 hour ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

Me personally, I'll go down with the ship!

Not because I'm some Pirate Captain making Good Booty and loyal to the ship but because I'm the cheap labor traveling for free because somebody has to "scrub the deck".

Very selfless and noble of you. Former captain Schettino should have taken a leaf out of your book.   

[AstroSkipper]

Apart from my attempt to present everything as realistically and objectively as possible, there will certainly be no acquittal for Google, Bing and their lackeys. Google is increasingly relying on pre-programmed filters and AI technology, which can only spell disaster for the world of information. There is no longer any real verification of whether something is right or wrong. It’s all about cost-cutting, profit maximisation, money, power and influence. A conscience and a sense of responsibility for the preservation of knowledge have long since disappeared. We’re just being inundated with rubbish. Whenever I’ve searched for something on Google in recent years, I’ve found it extremely difficult to come across anything relevant. It used to be quite different. Google Search, Bing and the even more pathetic slave machines are, as far as I’m concerned, dead and buried. I want to be informed, not dumbed down. 

Edited Saturday at 10:09 PM by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[NotHereToPlayGames]

30 minutes ago, AstroSkipper said:

Google is increasingly relying on pre-programmed filters and AI technology

Agreed.  But this isn't really anything "new".  What we call "AI programming" has been around for a long time.

While OT herein, I cite the industry that I work in.  The "programming" for your car's onboard "computer" is a helluva lot of "AI programming".

From airbag deployment "logic" to school bus "traction control".

Computers write a great deal of "code" that only is "reviewed" by Engineering, not actually "written" by Engineering.

Edited Saturday at 10:16 PM by NotHereToPlayGames

[AstroSkipper]

10 minutes ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

Agreed.  But this isn't really anything "new".  What we call "AI programming" has been around for a long time.

While OT herein, I cite the industry that I work in.  The "programming" for your car's onboard "computer" is a helluva lot of "AI programming".

From airbag deployment "logic" to school bus "traction control".

Computers write a great deal of "code" that only is "reviewed" by Engineering, not actually "written" by Engineering.

And that is precisely the problem. AI feeds AI, which feeds AI, and so on. And what do we end up with? Rubbish and misinformation, as far as search engines are concerned. I’m not talking about targeted, controlled AI applications. Google and the like have lost the battle and control. 

[NotHereToPlayGames]

12 minutes ago, AstroSkipper said:

And that is precisely the problem. AI feeds AI, which feeds AI, and so on.

Agreed!

But all of this recent "stuff" DOES have me wondering just where MSFN would be if AI was doing the "grunt work" INSTEAD of an "owner"?

I kind of am left with "Well, AI could *NOT* have done any WORSE and it might have actually PREVENTED the current predicament."

[AstroSkipper]

8 hours ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

But all of this recent "stuff" DOES have me wondering just where MSFN would be if AI was doing the "grunt work" INSTEAD of an "owner"?

I kind of am left with "Well, AI could *NOT* have done any WORSE and it might have actually PREVENTED the current predicament."

Such considerations are purely theoretical. Up until the end of 2025, I always programmed, modified and fixed everything manually myself. Since the start of 2026, and although I have always had serious reservations, I have moved on from being an ‘one-man band’ and, despite my ‘old-school’ tendencies and my dinosaur-like behaviour, have incorporated an AI. I now programme in collaboration with this AI. But only under clearly defined rules. I have set up templates and strict rules that we work by. I am now very experienced in dealing with this kind of AI and am aware of the dangers that come with it. Rules get broken, templates aren’t processed correctly, and the wildest hallucinations occur. I notice this and intervene immediately. And I do so ruthlessly. I don’t let anything slip through. This effort takes a lot of time. And I am now certain that it is impossible for Google to control its many AI assistants and the information they provide. Anyone who blindly trusts an AI and is unable to recognise hallucinations and distinguish them from reality should steer well clear of it.  
As for MSFN, however, like many other websites, it is reliant on Google & Co, as they unfortunately dominate the market and are used by most people. New visitors or members will no longer be able to find MSFN, and this forum will become an isolated community. Advertising partners will also pull out, as a zero ranking on Google & Co is a no-go in today’s IT industry. 

Edited Sunday at 07:50 AM by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[EliraFriesnan]

Whose slave is yahoo? Aren't they independent?

uk.search.yahoo.com

[EliraFriesnan]

15 hours ago, deomsh said:

no longer indexes new MSFN content reliably.

I wrote about it quite some ago:

"The emphasis is on "reliable", meaning un-reliable in this case. Search Assist no longer considers the information about MSFN "reliable" to generate results."

15 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

Summary for clarification
There is no malicious intent on Google’s part: Google does not “think” like a human. The bot simply sees: “Suddenly, 80% of all pages on this domain are Thai spam – so the entire domain is corrupted.”

https://msfn.org/board/topic/187750-sometimes-redirecting-to-spamgamble-site-when-accessing-msfnorgboard/page/8/#findComment-1287325

https://msfn.org/board/topic/187750-sometimes-redirecting-to-spamgamble-site-when-accessing-msfnorgboard/page/8/#findComment-1287316

[AstroSkipper]

50 minutes ago, EliraFriesnan said:

Whose slave is yahoo? Aren't they independent?

uk.search.yahoo.com

As far as I know, it is a slave of Bing (Microsoft) and far from being independent. Since 2009, Yahoo! partners with Bing and uses its search results.

Edited Sunday at 08:31 AM by AstroSkipper
correction

[EliraFriesnan]

2 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

As far as I know, it is a slave of Bing (Microsoft) and far from being independent. Since 2009, Yahoo! It partners with Bing and uses its search results.

Thank you dear @AstroSkipper, good to know! But the searches on Yahoo UK, overall, are better than with Bing and Google, and they still have one proper link to MSFN, despite the shown Siamese façade.

[AstroSkipper]

2 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

Such considerations are purely theoretical. Up until the end of 2025, I always programmed, modified and fixed everything manually myself. Since the start of 2026, and although I have always had serious reservations, I have moved on from being an ‘one-man band’ and, despite my ‘old-school’ tendencies and my dinosaur-like behaviour, have incorporated an AI. I now programme in collaboration with this AI. But only under clearly defined rules. I have set up templates and strict rules that we work by. I am now very experienced in dealing with this kind of AI and am aware of the dangers that come with it. Rules get broken, templates aren’t processed correctly, and the wildest hallucinations occur. I notice this and intervene immediately. And I do so ruthlessly. I don’t let anything slip through. This effort takes a lot of time. And I am now certain that it is impossible for Google to control its many AI assistants and the information they provide. Anyone who blindly trusts an AI and is unable to recognise hallucinations and distinguish them from reality should steer well clear of it.  
As for MSFN, however, like many other websites, it is reliant on Google & Co, as they unfortunately dominate the market and are used by most people. New visitors or members will no longer be able to find MSFN, and this forum will become an isolated community. Advertising partners will also pull out, as a zero ranking on Google & Co is a no-go in today’s IT industry. 

And then there is another crucial factor. What sort of impression does MSFN give when it presents itself as ‘MSFN = Microsoft Software Forum Network – Where people get to know’ and is regarded by all insiders as a top-tier technology forum, yet isn’t even capable of running a properly functioning server and is considered a spammer by most search engines?   

[NotHereToPlayGames]

1 hour ago, AstroSkipper said:

yet isn’t even capable of running a properly functioning server and is considered a spammer by most search engines?

AGREED!
Keep tooting that horn, LOUD AND PROUD.  I have no problems in doing the same!

One of TWO things will happen:
1) the OWNER gets off his a-s-s and *ALL* members, silent or otherwise, stand and applaud, or
2) you and I will be banned and *ALL* members will witness how we were banned for wanting nothing more than some level of ACCOUNTABILITY

 

Speaking of ACCOUNTABILITY, shouldn't *ANYBODY* that has ever DONATED to MSFN kind of request a **REFUND** at this point ???
It is clear that server-level "maintenance" has been outright IGNORED for *at least* six months.

I mean, as LOUD as we have already been, we haven't been told to "Please step aside, we are aware of the situation, we ADMIT our role in the cause-and-effect that unfolded, we are fixing this."
Rather, NOTHING, a downright and absolute NOTHING.

 

*No answer IS an answer.*

[AstroSkipper]

34 minutes ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

you and I will be banned and *ALL* members will witness how we were banned for wanting nothing more than some level of ACCOUNTABILITY

Given that I am presenting the whole matter here in an objective and well-founded manner for the greater good, and that I cannot identify a single breach of the forum rules, a ban is neither lawful nor justifiable, unless complete arbitrariness is at play. I would be more inclined to receive a thank you for my efforts to save an important forum from ruin.  Not to mention how much time I’ve already spent researching all this, tracking down sources, then spending hours writing it all up and posting it. 
And then there’s my guiding principle: Veritas saepe molesta, sed dicenda est. Nihil semper ad nihilum.

Edited Sunday at 11:00 AM by AstroSkipper