I thought maybe displaying a dialog that says "SIGN IN WITH GOOGLE" front and center, that steals cursor focus (after a random delay), and covers content, might have been a better illustration of the phenomenon, considering it's more intrusive than the pop-under ads of the early 00's.
snickerbockers · 5h ago
"Click all squares containing a motorcycle."
"Failure to verify. Click all squares containing a traffic signal."
I hate how much unpaid labor I've given to Gemini just because so many sites fall for the DDOS shakedown. And I've heard the story about how PayPal's captcha saved the company or whatever, I just don't think the solution should be appointing Google as your gatekeeper.
therein · 5h ago
It is made worse by it not actually looking for the right answer at all stages of that process. Part of it you're training it, and it will take your word for it. Let's make that image appear slowly, like real slow fade in. Motorcycle? Include the rider, not include the rider? Does it matter? Who cares, we have made our mind about your IP already, this is just to annoy you.
There is that one guy that orders 50lbs anvils from Amazon, just to return them. He has been doing that for 6 months. This is the kind of thing that makes a person do that.
octo888 · 3h ago
Yeah Google actually has a patent on the "unsolvable" captcha thing
sssilver · 50m ago
Great comment.
Kind of illustrates how detached they are from actual substance and how shallow their understanding of what bad UX really means.
ayaros · 5h ago
This is an incredible burn if I've ever seen one.
timeon · 3h ago
As someone, who haven't opened sites made by google in months, I got "we want your data" pop-up covering whole page. It was pretty bad UX.
chiffre01 · 5h ago
I worked with a guy years ago who passionately hated Comic Sans. I told him to email Vincent Connare, the Comic Sans inventor, and tell him how much he didn't like it, and he did.
Anyway, no response until a year and a half later, then one day a simple F-you came back.
Just got a Comic Sans Everywhere extension on firefox, this is kind of awesome! Comic Sans gets a bad rap. I feel better already it kind of conveys the reality that everything on the internet is fake and were all clowns.
squidbeak · 4h ago
Search results for its designer, Vincent Connare, also use it. Nice tribute.
Wow, google suddenly looks much better. How do we make this change permanent? (not a joke)
cdrini · 3h ago
Wow, I've never seen comic sans on mobile before, and... it kind of looks really nice?? I'm not sure why, but it looks totally different from windows! Maybe it's the high resolution display, but the font doesn't look as childish, and just looks slightly more organic than the default. And slightly easier on the eyes, too.
aatd86 · 3h ago
I was thinking the same thing.
It's not bad.
thunderfork · 3h ago
You might be seeing Comic Neue instead of the old classic, depending on what device fonts you have
JHorse · 5h ago
If you haven't already seen theMcSweemey's classic "I'm Comic Sans, Asshole", I highly recommend you go check it out posthaste
Another one, when you google "vim" you get "did you mean: emacs" and vice versa
omnibrain · 3h ago
I tried to copy some files once. I was unsure about the syntax of "cp" and my sleep deprived brain did neither remember to just try "man cp", nor when I searched via Bing to add "syntax" to the search term "cp".
This lead to a very stern warning, that let me wonder if I'm on a list now...
Odd, you’d think it would just redirect you to the pages about Material 3 Expressive. How do I get someone at Google to fix that bug?
Oanid · 4h ago
"BAD UX"
Any of Google's Android apps.
econ · 2h ago
Not having a maps option in the menu when you search for a city name.
Pretending there to be a one size fits all solution when you have over a billion users.
betaby · 6h ago
That's nice. Although I would expect the Apple's new liquid glass design as a first and most recent example.
rossant · 3h ago
Since when searching a font on Google changes the UI text font? Tried with Garamond, Comic Sans, Times New Roman.
anigbrowl · 5h ago
A decade or so ago I opened the weekly legal trade newspaper and found a death notice for the senior partner of a boutique law firm in Comic Sans. Still trying to figure out what it meant.
ZeroWidthJoiner · 5h ago
Search results for "best font ever" has an easter egg as well.
x______________ · 6h ago
I'm not seeing any changes on mobile, but weirdly getting a full AI answer in bad UX, while searching for Good UX offers no such prompt.
Maybe the moral is that Good UX doesn't need bloated AI summaries on traditional search queries?
econ · 2h ago
They can't figure out how to put videos on the video tab, pictures with pictures, maps with maps.
Will the AI product ever become a real Google service? You know, like the product search everyone loves so much?
Larrikin · 6h ago
It's working on Firefox
x______________ · 4h ago
Android 11, Firefox 128.
Saw it on Edge on win 10 though, nice.
Edit: Got it to work, culprit was Noscript with a block on gststic.com
Comic Sans has its uses and there is also Shantell Sans that is an update on the concept for dyslexic people.
Hating on Comic Sans is getting tired, those that call themselves 'designers' but merely imitate are the chief culprits.
I have no use for the font, or rather, typeface, myself, but I don't belittle those that do use it. You can guarantee some charity fundraising thing pegged to the noticeboard in a supermarket will use Comic Sans, and I am okay with that. If there was a fridge magnet font by Fisher Price then I would be okay with that too.
Imagine how boring the world would be without the little things that annoy 'designers'.
I am okay with Google Easter Eggs, generally, just so long as Google have a top class product, but they have lost their edge, and, whilst the product is lacking, Easter Eggs will look silly.
Sohcahtoa82 · 3h ago
I hate Comic Sans, not because it's a bad typeface, but because it's misused.
It's a playful font, so using it for playful things is great! Anything related to children's activities, it's a fine choice.
But then people use it for things that aren't playful. A sign at your bank saying they're low on coins should not be in Comic Sans. Work e-mails should not be in Comic Sans. A resume should not be in Comic Sans unless you're applying for a literal clown job or Kindergarten teacher.
bigstrat2003 · 4h ago
> Hating on Comic Sans is getting tired
I was tired of the hate 20 years ago. And yet people still feel the need to keep beating the dead horse. It mystifies me.
theideaofcoffee · 4h ago
The SRP also changes when you search 'Garamond' (as in the typeface).
Edit: I guess this was already on the Google easter eggs wiki page, but I happened to find it randomly just recently.
chatmasta · 4h ago
You don’t even need to search “Garamond” — “garamonf” will get you the same result!
...But every search on google is bad UX between the AIOs and the millions of indian SEO scammers that have been brought to prominence the past few years
I thought maybe displaying a dialog that says "SIGN IN WITH GOOGLE" front and center, that steals cursor focus (after a random delay), and covers content, might have been a better illustration of the phenomenon, considering it's more intrusive than the pop-under ads of the early 00's.
"Failure to verify. Click all squares containing a traffic signal."
I hate how much unpaid labor I've given to Gemini just because so many sites fall for the DDOS shakedown. And I've heard the story about how PayPal's captcha saved the company or whatever, I just don't think the solution should be appointing Google as your gatekeeper.
There is that one guy that orders 50lbs anvils from Amazon, just to return them. He has been doing that for 6 months. This is the kind of thing that makes a person do that.
Kind of illustrates how detached they are from actual substance and how shallow their understanding of what bad UX really means.
Anyway, no response until a year and a half later, then one day a simple F-you came back.
https://www.google.com/search?q=askew
PS: https://www.google.com/search?q=bad+UX is a cleaner submission link without any tracking.
https://www.google.com/search?q=vincent+connare
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/im-comic-sans-asshole
https://www.google.com/search?q=do+a+barrel+roll
Any of Google's Android apps.
Pretending there to be a one size fits all solution when you have over a billion users.
Maybe the moral is that Good UX doesn't need bloated AI summaries on traditional search queries?
Will the AI product ever become a real Google service? You know, like the product search everyone loves so much?
Saw it on Edge on win 10 though, nice.
Edit: Got it to work, culprit was Noscript with a block on gststic.com
try also https://www.google.com/search?q=times+new+roman
Hating on Comic Sans is getting tired, those that call themselves 'designers' but merely imitate are the chief culprits.
I have no use for the font, or rather, typeface, myself, but I don't belittle those that do use it. You can guarantee some charity fundraising thing pegged to the noticeboard in a supermarket will use Comic Sans, and I am okay with that. If there was a fridge magnet font by Fisher Price then I would be okay with that too.
Imagine how boring the world would be without the little things that annoy 'designers'.
I am okay with Google Easter Eggs, generally, just so long as Google have a top class product, but they have lost their edge, and, whilst the product is lacking, Easter Eggs will look silly.
It's a playful font, so using it for playful things is great! Anything related to children's activities, it's a fine choice.
But then people use it for things that aren't playful. A sign at your bank saying they're low on coins should not be in Comic Sans. Work e-mails should not be in Comic Sans. A resume should not be in Comic Sans unless you're applying for a literal clown job or Kindergarten teacher.
I was tired of the hate 20 years ago. And yet people still feel the need to keep beating the dead horse. It mystifies me.
Edit: I guess this was already on the Google easter eggs wiki page, but I happened to find it randomly just recently.