navigation - Are breadcrumbs still in?

Despite NNGroup's praise, I notice none of the big players (StackExchange, Facebook, Google, YouTube) use breadcrumbs. None of the big ecommerce players either. Why is this?

Possible guesses:

• Users aren't stupid, they know where they are


• Breadcrumbs add clutter, and give off a 90s feel


• Breadcrumbs are only helpful if the site design itself is bad and the pages that would normally appear in breadcrumbs are otherwise hard to reach

Answer

Breadcrumbs rock!

And I think you have a personal bias against them rather than making a clear observation about their use.

I notice none of the big players (StackExchange, Facebook, Google, YouTube) use breadcrumbs.

• StackExchange uses tags. Those are like breadcrumbs, but it's an associated way rather than structural.


• Facebook uses AJAX inplace loading for most user content (so you never leave a page the info is related to), but the rest of their website uses breadcrumbs. For example, their online help.


• Google uses page numbers in search results, and their portal sites are very AJAX-driven, but for the rest of the website they have a breadcrumb at the top, as in this example.


• YouTube mostly displays a feed of videos, but if you browse channels then there is a breadcrumb, as in this example.

Users aren't stupid, they know where they are

They know how they got here, but not where here is. That doesn't make them stupid, but they can still get lost.

Visitors will be required to use alternative visual information to discover what the parent article is for the current article. Either the menu navigation or some other navigating method.

Breadcrumbs are consistant and common.

Breadcrumbs add clutter, and give off a 90s feel

Another way to say the same thing:

Breadcrumbs have been a consistent navigational tool since the early 90's.

Breadcrumbs are only helpful if the site design itself is bad and the pages that would normally appear in breadcrumbs are otherwise hard to reach

The effectiveness of a website's design, article structure and accessibility have absolutely nothing to do with breadcrumbs.