I don't want to go to lyrics sites for lyrics. I have yet to find one that isn't awful, spammy, slow, popup and interstitial ridden.
Maybe if there were some that weren't utter shit, I'd agree. But the thing is that before this, the only results I was getting were inferior search results.
This is, once again, the copyright industry shooting itself in the foot; They actively go after lyrics sites, thus assuring that any that do exist are of maximal shittyness.
The fundamental problem is a technicality of the songwriting process; To assure that lyricists and composers both got fair shares, songs consist of two separate entities for copyright purposes; Their lyrics, and their music.
Therefore, when companies protect copyright, they need to protect copyright for the individual parts. Ergo, they go after lyrics sites, since they're committing wholesale infringement.
Rather than the record labels setting up their own distribution sites, so that they could control and monetize, they viewed these as valuable property - since, after all, they're half the value of the song! The same problem exists with Guitar tabs, though as they're more specialized the community has mostly rallied to make those sites palatable.
Out of curiosity what would you propose as an ideal solution? Of course with the understanding that it is unlikely to exist unless there is a way to monetize it.
Ironically, Genius tried to game search results and now almost never shows up in them (for me at least).
An (anonymous) search for "shake hands with beef lyrics" turns up azlyrics.com, lyricsfreak.com as #1 and #2, followed by Wikipedia (which doesn't have lyrics) and then metrolyrics.com - probably the best of a bad bunch.
Tack "genius" onto the search and it'll show up, but right now it's hardly competing for first-page search results.
How is it inferior? When I search for lyrics, most of the time I am looking for just that...lyrics. When I get clean lyrics free of popups, auto playing video ads and in one fewer click, it is superior experience than my previous experience. As for Google Play, all I see is a small logo. You don't have to visit Google Play to see the lyrics.
Its inferior pretty much by definition becuase it lost organically against other lyric sites and is now being propped up by an Act of Goog.
"We know millions of people chose to click on other results but since we make (more) money on this one we'll strongly suggest you click on it from now on."
"Our super algorithms give you the best results ... most of the time. Sometimes we'll give you a website we own that isn't the best result from the algo but you know it's cool because reasons."
It's disingenuous to suggest that they show the lyrics solely or even mostly because it makes them more money. As a user, I end up clicking on fewer ads because the lyrics are right there--not requiring a click.
> Spares you ads? The whole thing has been turned into a Google Play ad.
One ad is less than many other lyrics sources display, so even accepting your description, it still spares you ads.
> Nobody wants to go to Google Play for lyrics
If I want lyrics, I want accurate lyrics. If Google Play provides accurate lyrics, in a low-distraction format, then I definitely want to go to Google Play for lyrics.
> this is Google giving priority placement to an inferior search result.
Nobody wants to go to Google Play for lyrics, this is Google giving priority placement to an inferior search result.