Is Google dead?
OK...OK...I know Google is alive and thriving, but you would be hard pressed to prove it by reading the BP forums lately!
I'm trying to figure out the phenomenon that occurs here on Bigger Pockets, because it would seem that as new members are signing up they are being asked to either turn in their Google keys or take a pledge not to Google. It's the only reasonable explanation I can come up with for the number of questions being posted that could be definitively answered with a simple Google search.
I know the BP search function is a little clunky. (Come on...admit it...it is. The way the results are grouped and the fact there's no way to sort the results, once they are displayed. It's clunky.) But, Google? Not clunky. In fact, Google does a better job of searching BP than BP does, since almost every Real Estate question will return applicable results from BP forums and blogs. Genius!
Google isn't clunky and clearly isn't dead, so there must be some newly attached pledge for new members where they swear off Googling. Right? It's the only logical explanation for questions like...What service is available to mail out postcards for me? ...or, Is there an occupancy requirement, if you purchase a HUD Homepath house? (Really...HUD has their very own site with a whole FAQ section!)
Clearly, Josh & Brandon are driving traffic to BP by forcing new members to give up Google...that has to be it!! Otherwise, people are just lazy, and surely they know getting started in REI is hard work, so the lazy need not apply.