Crunch confusion: unaligned answers between reddit and the google machine

So, I've sifted through this sub enough to pick up on a general consensus.. Don't do traditional sit ups/crunches. Bad for the spine, inefficient for core workouts. Got it, check.

But when I outright google ab exercises for more ideas, I still see crunches popping up. On fitness websites. Sometimes its a variation such as exercise ball crunches or inverted crunches, and sometimes it's the straight up tradtional method.

Either way, I'm lost. To me, a crunch is a crunch for the most part, even the variations. And since I know nothing and assume both the intelligent minds running this show AND the sponsored websites from the google are right.. I'm left at a crossroad.

Why would there be this disparity?

Thanks for reading folks