Ask HN: Is Someone Hijacking Google Images?

I was looking for ideas on how to build a simple network analyzer to test antennas, filters etc. so I typed "network analyzer schematic" (without quotes) on Google Images and it apparently returned some results I was expecting, but clicking on a lot of results from the first page opened some subscription only websites with suspicious names nagging me to create an account to see the actual images, some of which I'm 100% sure I already have seen on their original authors websites. Those websites are clearly made by the same entity, and to me it appears they're essentially hijacking Google Images results for their profit. Here are some of those results; many more on the 1st page. I had a hard time finding something that returned an actual loadable image or an article without asking for subscription. Note that they all return URLs containing "spectrum analyzer schematic" although I searched for "network analyzer schematic".

https://ift.tt/2THM2aJ

https://ift.tt/2F7RNUX

https://ift.tt/2TIkBxn

https://ift.tt/2F8z8Zp

https://ift.tt/2TIkCRX

https://ift.tt/2F8z8Zp

https://ift.tt/2FeCwSf

https://ift.tt/2TIkBxn

https://ift.tt/2TP73AA

Edit: it appears those pages are being slowly buried by legit results, but some of them still surface although much deeper.

Examples:

https://ift.tt/2FccHlV

https://ift.tt/2TGDZec

https://ift.tt/2FkWQBR

7.12.gvapor.nl/dds_function_generator_mcu_schematic.php

Note that I searched for the same exact phrase as above.

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Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19417561

Points: 106

# Comments: 41

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